Iraq COVID-19 cases soar amid economic crisis

In Baghdad’s vast exhibition grounds, masked workers lugged hospital beds into rows for makeshift COVID-19 wards, as doctors and officials sounded the alarm Sunday over a surge in cases in the Iraqi capital.

The long-dreaded scenario is gripping the country amid a severe economic crisis brought on by plummeting oil prices. But with a widening budget deficit, doctors are running low on medical equipment, including key protective gear. A cap on new hires is also expected to strain the already over-stretched system.

As hospitals overflowed with COVID-19 patients, the Iraqi government announced that temporary field hospitals will open throughout Baghdad, where infection tallies are highest. Iraq’s healthcare system was already battered by years of conflict as well as poor infrastructure and lack of funds.

Work to erect the field hospital in the fairgrounds began Saturday, and it will eventually provide beds for 400 men and 100 women. When the hospital cots ran out, workers brought in metal-framed single beds.

“God willing, there will be future plans to increase the number of beds and field hospitals,” said Mouhamed Bander, an engineer with the Aqiq Institution for Charity. His organization set up the wards in tandem with the Health and Trade ministries.

The number of cases began rising after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when families and friends typically get together to break their daylong fast. In less than a month, coronavirus infections soared to more than 30,000 as of Sunday, up from fewer than 4,000 at the end of May. The death toll also climbed, with 1,100 confirmed, according to Health Ministry figures.

Among them was Iraqi soccer star Ahmed Radhi, 56, who died Sunday of COVID-19 complications.

The increase in known cases was due to more testing and a lack of public adherence to government measures, said Health Ministry spokesman Saif Badr. Testing has increased from nearly 4,000 a day last month to more than 13,000 daily in recent days. By next week, he said, 20,000 samples will be examined daily.

Iraq took drastic measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus, including banning public gatherings and closing schools, restaurants and international borders. Despite the additional field hospitals in place, doctors fear these measures won’t be enough to cope with the rising number of cases.

Doctors said the Health Ministry relies heavily on rapid blood tests to identify the first signs of infection. If these are positive, swabs are taken to confirm whether it’s coronavirus using specialized testing kits. But blood tests are known to produce false positives.

“It’s overcrowding hospitals,” said a doctor in Baghdad. “It’s chaos.”

The Iraqi healthcare workers and health officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because of recent measures by the ministry prohibiting them from talking to reporters.

The manager of a hospital in the city of Karbala that reached capacity this week ordered staff not to conduct tests if symptoms weren’t present because “there are no more beds to admit people,” a doctor there said. But those stricken included many who were asymptomatic.

All of the health workers interviewed said they had purchased their own protective equipment because hospital supplies were running low.

“We are in a fog; we don’t know what is going on,” said the doctor in Karbala, who said they’d asked their hospital for gloves, masks and protective suits but were told the items had run out.

Doctors in Basra and Baghdad cited similar issues.

“The numbers concern us,” said a doctor in a major Baghdad hospital dealing with COVID-19 patients. “And we are already overstretched.”

A senior official said the Health Ministry is in dire need of funds. But a budget hasn’t been approved by the government, which is grappling with shortfalls in the wake of falling oil prices. Iraq depends on crude exports to fund nearly 90% of state revenue. Allocations to the ministry are made on a monthby-month basis.

“We need a budget twice the size of the previous budget,” said the official.

But officials from the prime minister’s office said funds allocated to the Health Ministry weren’t being spent efficiently.

“The problem is logistics management; the network is weak,” the Health Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The ministry is also unable to make new hires, key to coping with the rising number of cases.