of astrazeneca vaccines through the un's covax program. april 2021 despite spreading covid-19 in iraq, people continue gathering and watching soccer on the street, erbil, kurdistan region, iraq. may 2021. in april 2021, uk contributed in supporting the undp to help iraq fight the coronavirus by committing $4.2 million. on 22 april, iraq surpassed one million covid-19 cases. on 24 april, the coronavirus ward at ibn al-khatib hospital in baghdad caught fire. there were many fatalities and injuries. july 2021 on 12 july, dozens of people died in a fire in a hospital in nasiriya. the fire may have been ignited by oxygen tanks in a covid-19 icu. government response and impacts curfews on 13 march, the kurdistan regional government imposed a two-day curfew in erbil and sulaymaniyah, which later evolved to become a complete lockdown of the entire region of the krg on 4 april. this was due to a rise in cases attributed to two funeral gatherings. this lockdown meant that apart from a few select pharmaceutical shops working through delivery, all shops would be closed and movement (even walking) banned. after the first death in sheikh saad, wasit governorate, the town placed into temporary lockdown after an elderly couple died from the coronavirus on 14 march. on 15 march, a three-day curfew was imposed in karbala. education main article: impact of the covid-19 pandemic on education the krg declared the period of 26 february to 10 march a public holiday for all public and private schools and kindergartens in kurdistan region. public and private universities were closed from 29 february to 10 march. this closure continued for the rest of the academic year and most started online learning. primary, middle and high schools had a midterm holiday since 16 february; a two-week holiday was extended for an additional week and then another week. on 18 march, all schools and universities in baghdad were closed until further notice. travel restrictions main article: travel restrictions related to the covid-19 pandemic iraq closed its border with iran in late february, only allowing iraqi citizens that were returning, after the pandemic in iran spread. between 8 and 16 march, trading with kuwait was suspended. in response to the outbreak in iraq, jordan decided to restrict land and air travel with the country on 10 march. on 10 march, the kurdistan regional government decided to close its border with iran from 16 march until at least april. iraq banned travelers from qatar and germany from 13 march in attempt to stop the disease from spreading. travelers from iran, italy, china, france, spain, thailand, singapore, south korea, and japan were also on the ban list. on 15 march, the government announced that all flights to and from baghdad airport between 17 and 24 march would be suspended. the government also imposed a curfew in the capital, baghdad, over the same period. on 15 january 2021, iraq announced a ban on its citizens from travelling to 20 countries where a new coronavirus variant was found. social issues and impacts main article: impact of the covid-19 pandemic on religion on 27 february, schools, universities and cinemas in baghdad were closed, and other large public gatherings (including major religious gatherings during rajab) in cities were banned until 7 march. the fear of contagion prevented mourners from burying their dead in communities across iraq. religious gatherings were banned on 13 march in the kurdish regional government, but were not enforced strictly until 4 april, where it was discovered that two funeral gatherings on 21 and 23 march were responsible for a third of all cases in the city of erbil. on the same day, word got to the government of another illegal funeral gathering in the nearby village of daratu, which led to the local zerevani having to lock down the village as a result. the looting of artefacts in iraq had been on the rise during the covid-19 pandemic. due to the pandemic, few tourists or foreign archaeologists visited historical sites. as a result, many of these areas were left unguarded. u.s. forces on 20 march 2020, the american-led combined joint task force – operation inherent resolve (cjtf-oir) confirmed that certain troops would be withdrawing from iraq due to the pandemic. on that same day, united states central command ordered a 14-day "stop movement" preventing any u.s. troops from entering or leaving iraq and afghanistan because of the pandemic. the islamic state of iraq and the levant has planned to take advantage of the vacuum in the syrian desert caused by the coronavirus-expedited withdrawal of u.s. troops. statistics cumulative number of cases, recoveries and deaths overview the table below shows the confirmed covid-19 cases in each governorate of iraq. covid-19 in iraq by governorates as of october 24, 2021 governorate cases deaths recovered al-anbar governorate 19,074 93 18,235 al-qādisiyyah governorate 65,161 755 64,111 babil governorate 61,987 992 60,742 baghdad governorate 586,300 5,009 571,846 basra governorate 205,483 1,465 203,838 dhi qar governorate 90,669 1,558 88,615 diyala governorate 75,922 486 74,949 duhok governorate 117,669 1,509 110,091 erbil governorate 99,235 1,715 89,886 halabja governorate 6,540 204 5,871 karbala governorate 80,179 914 79,052 kirkuk governorate 71,952 1,308 69,231 maysan governorate 78,353 867 77,008 muthanna governorate 33,147 341 32,133 najaf governorate 88,600 706 87,277 nineveh governorate 66,649 839 65,283 saladin governorate 45,055 456 37,352 sulaymaniyah governorate 119,786 2,591 107,760 wasit governorate 111,442 744 100,421 total 2,023,203 22,552 1,943,701 maps percentage of inactive cases (including deaths and recoveries) % as of 7 june 2020 0% 1-9% 10-29% 30-49% 50-99% 100% % of deaths per no. of confirmed cases (as of 7 june 2020) 0% 1-9% 10-29% 30-49%