Anadolu Agency inside Iraqi hospital during pandemic

By Haydar Karaalp

BAGHDAD (AA) – Patients who contracted the coronavirus and remain in critical condition are kept under quarantine at a hospital in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Anadolu Agency recorded footage of the Al Shifa Hospital, which is reserved for the COVID-19 patients in the country. The video shows patients undergoing treatment in the hospital and highlights the struggle of the medical staff against the deadly virus.

Doctors and nurses, who act meticulously to protect themselves against the coronavirus with all available protective means as overalls, gowns, masks and visors.

Like the other hospitals in many parts of the country, Al Shifa Hospital appears in a dire need of care in terms of hygiene.

“We had nearly 200 patients in our 250-bed hospital during the peak of the pandemic,” hospital manager Rafid Shakir told Anadolu Agency.

“We are badly worried about a second peak as the schools reopened,” Shakir said.

Iraq’s coronavirus count now stands at 12,614 deaths and 577,363 infections as well as 511,639 recoveries.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz