BAGHDAD, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Monday reported 3,202 new COVID-19 cases, indicating a decline in the daily infections compared to the past few days, while the total nationwide infections climbed to 180,133.
The Health Ministry's teams and institutions have used 21,403 testing kits across the country during the day, raising the total testing kits used so far to 1,304,331, the ministry said in a statement.
It also reported 94 fatalities during the day, raising the death toll from the virus to 5,954, while 3,571 more patients recovered in the day, bringing the total number of recoveries to 128,945.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Health Minister Hassan Al-Tamimi said in a statement that the ministry decided to establish a center for blood diseases dedicated to people infected with coronavirus in an attempt to improve the efforts to confront the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision to establish the center was taken during al-Tamimi's meeting with the administration of the Medial City in the presence of a number of physicians specialized in blood diseases, according to the statement.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Iraq has been taking measures to contain the pandemic.
China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
From March 7 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Iraq's capital Baghdad.
Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem
