BAGHDAD, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Saturday 1,997 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide infections to 472,630.
The new cases included 629 in the capital Baghdad, 301 in Duhok, 214 in Erbil, and 174 in Sulaimaniyah, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also reported 48 new deaths and 2,414 more recoveries in the country, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 10,910 and the total recoveries to 399,655.
A total of 2,862,007 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February, with 12,672 done during the day, according to the ministry statement.
It is worth noting that the clear decline in new COVID-19 cases on Saturday came with a drop in the number of tests during the day, which is nearly half of the routine number in recent weeks.
The ministry had attributed the increase of COVID-19 infections to lack of public compliance with the health instructions and a stronger testing capacity after the increase of labs in Baghdad and other provinces.
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
