BAGHDAD (AP) – In the occupied emergency room of the main public hospital in Baghdad, Ali Abbas was sitting with his face uncovered, waiting for his sick father. Dozens of other patients and their relatives mingled without masks.
It is a scene that confuses Iraqi health workers, who warn that the country is entering a new wave of coronavirus cases, in part because many are avoiding precautions.
“I don’t believe in coronavirus, I believe in God,” said Abbas, 21, in the middle of the hospital floor, defying the rules of the institution that requires masks.
On Friday, Iraq was on the first full day of a new government-imposed timeout in response to infection rates that returned again after relaxing last fall. The running time is extinguished all day from Friday to Sunday and from 20:00 to 5:00 the rest of the week. Mosques and schools are closed, large gatherings are banned and the wearing of masks and other protective equipment will be enforced, according to a government statement.
A complete blockade, including the closure of airports and borders, is also being considered, two government officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to inform the media.
The new cases, falling below 600 a day, just a month ago, rose sharply, reaching 3,896 a day on February 18 and approaching the daily peak of September, over 5,000. The Ministry of Health says 50% of new cases come from the new more infectious strain that first broke out in the UK More than 657,000 people have been infected with the virus in Iraq and 13,220 have died since February.
Doctors told the Associated Press that they saw the appearance weeks ago. They blame a negligent public and a government incapable of fully enforcing antivirus protocols.
“I am a doctor who fights against public ignorance, not against the pandemic,” said Mohammed Shahada, a pulmonologist at al-Zahra Hospital in Baghdad.
At al-Zahra Hospital, the year began with just four patients in the 90-bed isolation ward. By the beginning of February, it had reached 30 patients with a severe virus. Shahada expects more in the coming weeks.
At his private clinic, some patients came out rather than meet his strict face mask requirement, he said.
Ismail Taher, a doctor at Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Baghdad, estimated that only one in 10 people entering his hospital wore masks.
The Ministry of Health said earlier this month that a new wave was driven by religious activities – including Friday prayers and altar visits – and large crowds in squares, restaurants, malls and parks, where handshakes and kisses greeted. are the norm.
The ministry also blamed “some people who question the existence of the pandemic.”
This is a common feeling.
“It’s just the flu,” said Yahya Shammari, a 28-year-old graduate. “I went to the hospital twice without a mask and I didn’t get infected.”
Rahem Shabib, 32, said he noticed infection rates fell following the October Arbaeen Shiite Muslim pilgrimage. “So God is stronger than COVID-19,” he said.
Arbaeen brings millions of people around the world to Iraq to commemorate the seventh-century assassination of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. This year, Iraq has banned foreign pilgrims from participating, significantly reducing their numbers.
Mac Skelton, a medical sociologist at the American University of Iraq in Sulaimaniyah, said the repulsive attitude is not so much rooted in ignorance as in the realities facing Iraqis.
Iraqis have endured so many calamities in recent decades, including wars, political violence and sanctions, that COVID-19 “may not accumulate as a major problem,” he said.
Also, hospital-focused pandemic policies do not match the way Iraqis deal with disease, Skelton said. Amid years of instability, Iraqis have had to come up with their own strategies, as medical care was either not available or in hospitals, which at the height of sectarian fighting had become dangerous places to go.
So, look for pharmacists, nurses, help from neighbors or even cross borders to treat diseases.
“Most doctors are not so surprised, I know that patients would refuse to go to the hospital, unless they searched for air and had no choice,” said Skelton, director of the university’s Institute for Regional and International Studies.
This also suggests that Ministry of Health statistics, based on tests performed at government laboratories, are insufficient, as many Iraqis may drop out of testing and opt for recovery at home.
Iraq’s centralized health care system, largely unchanged since the 1970s, has been overturned by decades of wars, sanctions and protracted unrest since the 2003 US invasion. Successive governments have invested little in the sector.
The mixture of virus patients with others also exacerbated the number of cases, doctors said. Shahada Hospital was once reserved exclusively for patients with the virus; but no more, and patients with COVID-19 and others share rooms where CT, MRI and X-rays are performed, Shahada said.
To date, Iraq has not faced a shortage of medical supplies or intensive care capacity. But that could change if cases increase, doctors say.
The Ministry of Health has stated that it intends to start administering the vaccines by the end of March. The government has allocated funds to provide 1.5 million vaccines from Pzifer and has signed a contract for another 2 million from AstraZeneca. Little has been said about how the inoculation will proceed.
Now, more than ever, government officials are worried that it will be difficult to change ingrained habits.
As restrictions eased after September, life returned to Iraq. In Baghdad, restaurants are packed and face masks are rarely seen. Further south, in Basra, residents walk every day as if the pandemic has never reached the southern shores, handing out meals in crowded cafes and shaking hands.
“Changing public awareness is the only way to stop another deadly outbreak of the virus,” Health Minister Hasan al-Tamimi told the PA on the sidelines of a recent news conference.
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Associated Press writer Samya Kullab of Baghdad contributed to the report.