Parliament’s Health Committee asks the public to follow Coronavirus preventive measures

Kurdistan Parliament’s Health, Environment and Consumer Rights Committee on 8 June held a meeting, led by the chair Dr. Sabah Zebari (KDP), to discuss the Coronavirus pandemic.

The MPs emphasised these points: Every person should protect themselves and others to prevent the further spread of the virus; everyone should know and be convinced that Coronavirus is not a political issue and it should not be politicized; and adhering to the protective measures is currently the only way to contain the virus.

The committee also discussed cases of people needing to travel to other governorates for non-Coronavirus related medical treatment, and said that the checkpoints should allow through people travelling for medical treatment. This issue arose with a pregnant woman who was forced to wait three hours to go through a checkpoint in Balisan to visit Erbil maternity hospital, because Balisan authorities had blocked the road and closed the checkpoint. Tragically, her newborn baby died.  

The MPs decided to ask the KRG Ministry of Health to announce at the same time every day the statistics for new Coronavirus cases, total cases, deaths and recoveries, to give the public a clear picture and reduce their anxiety.

The committee decided to ask Parliament’s Presidency to test MPs for the Coronavirus before every Parliament sitting, to be sure that there is no risk of MPs spreading it while in the chamber.