Iraqis poured into streets and commercial areas on Sunday as authorities relaxed coronavirus restrictions despite calls to reconsider the move amid surging cases and fatalities.
The decision, approved on Thursday by Iraq’s Higher Committee for Health and Public Safety, seeks to ease growing pressure on the economy and restore some sense of normality.
Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in Iraq and shows no signs of abating despite orders to stay at home and other protective measures imposed since mid-March.
The lockdown has harmed the country’s private sector, fuelling anti-government sentiment.
The committee said easing restrictions was aimed at “revitalising the commercial activities in the country and to ease the burden on the workers".
The daily curfew has been shortened to run from 9pm to 5am, while malls have been allowed to reopen on the condition that they strictly apply precautions to prevent the spread of infection.
Commercial movement at two border crossings with Iran and one with Kuwait also resumed, while airports will reopen on July 23.
Restaurants, cafes, children's play areas, places of worship, hairdressers, preschools and private clinics are not allowed to open yet.
Authorities have maintained a round-the-clock curfew on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, which will be reviewed after the Eid Al Adha holiday at the end of the month.
_______________
Coronavirus in the Middle East
_______________
At Baghdad Mall in the west of the capital, sanitisation booths were set up at the entrances and employees posted to ensure shoppers wore face masks and gloves.
Stands for hand sanitisers were also placed near by.
Most shops inside the mall also had sanitisers and a few put social distancing stickers on the floor.
But shoppers, some wearing face shields along with their masks, were not practising social distancing as they browsed among clothes racks or crowded at cashiers.
Some said reopening malls had brought joy back into their lives.
“I have not been out for months now,” said Sara Youssif, 25, who was wearing a face mask and gloves as she put down her shopping bags to look for a screen protector and phone cover at a stand for mobile accessories.
“I spent about 400,000 dinars [Dh1,231] on clothing and cosmetics and there are still more things to buy.
“I have been saying from the very beginning that we need to coexist with the virus because it is here to stay.
“And that the only solution is to protect ourselves. There must be compliance.”
But critics say it is still too early to return to normality.
On Friday, the Iraqi Medical Association said easing restrictions would harm efforts to contain the disease as “infections are still at high levels”.
“The committee’s decision didn’t take into consideration any official statistics or solid scientific research,” it said.
The association said the government's preventive measures were weak.
“It should have reviewed preventive measures at health institutions and supplied protection equipment to the medical staff instead of increasing crowds in public areas,” the medical group said.
On Sunday, Iraq announced 2,310 new infections and 90 deaths in the previous 24 hours.
That raised the total confirmed cases to 92,530 cases, and deaths to 3,781.
But for Ayoob Adnan Hamza, it was a relief to see customers in his shop again.
“Our business is badly hit by the outbreak. We didn’t expect to close down all this time,” said Mr Hamza, 24, outlet manager for a brand of women's handbags and shoes.
He estimated lost revenue at about $80,000 since the closing in mid-March.
The coronavirus has affected two peak times for his business, Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha.
In the eerily quiet section for restaurants and cafes, a group of youths had gathered. They were in the mall to take photographs.
“The place here is perfect for us, it’s quiet with nice decoration,” said Duaa Al Mukhtar who was posing for a photo for her shopping page on Instagram that features women's clothing.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Superior, Connor Beasley (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap Dh 185,000 2,000m
Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
7.40pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Roy Orbison, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.15pm
Handicap Dh 190,000 1,400m
Winner: Taamol, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.50pm
Handicap Dh 175,000 1,600m
Winner: Welford, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm: Handicap Dh 175,000 1,200m
Winner: Lavaspin, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Untold Secret, Xavier Ziani, Sandeep Jadhav
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
Killing of Qassem Suleimani