BAGHDAD, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Tuesday 4,510 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of nationwide infections to 459,908.
The new cases included 1,279 in the capital Baghdad, 703 in Erbil, 651 in Duhok, 243 in Sulaimaniyah, 242 in Nineveh, 212 in Salahudin, and 201 in Basra, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also reported 53 new deaths and 3,488 more recovered cases in the country, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 10,724 and the total recoveries to 388,081.
A total of 2,794,774 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February, with 19,372 done during the day, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Deputy Education Minister Falah al-Qaisi said in a press release that the ministry is preparing an emergency curriculum for the schools in which the number of subjects will be reduced to protect students from the coronavirus pandemic.
With the upcoming new school year, the ministry intends to teach students through electronic learning and an educational TV channel, al-Qaisi noted.
"Each student will be provided with a code to enter the electronic platform with the possibility of recording the lessons," he said.
Earlier, the ministry's spokesman Haider Farooq said the ministry is considering starting the new school year before mid-November.
Iraq has taken a series of measures to contain the pandemic since February when the first coronavirus case appeared in the country.
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 Baghdad.
Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem
