Displaced families in northern Iraq receive emergency aid

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) have provided thousands of displaced families in the northern mountainous Iraqi region of Sinjar with emergency assistance as part of efforts to reduce the risk of exposure to communicable diseases as the world is struggling to contain a coronavirus pandemic.

More than 2,300 displaced families in the Kurdish-populated region received food and hygiene kits from this month, the ICRC reported on Monday.

The emergency kits reached an estimated 11,500 people, most of whom were displaced since Daesh militants overran their hometowns in the northern part of the country in 2014.

“What we have seen in our work across the world is that people displaced by conflict are often particularly vulnerable to the impact of infectious diseases. In the case of an outbreak, such as the current coronavirus one, their specific needs should not be forgotten,” said Eve Charbonneau, health coordinator for the ICRC’s Iraq delegation.

In Iraq, the IRCS has been promoting awareness on the virus in some camps as part of a nationwide information and awareness campaign on preventative measures the public can take.

The coronavirus, a respiratory disease known as COVID-19, emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei Province late last year and is currently affecting more than 160 countries and territories across the globe.

Globally, nearly 183,000 have been infected as of Monday night, and at least 7,165 have so far perished, with 12,824 new cases of COVID-19 disease and 656 deaths reported in the previous day, according to Reuters tallies.

Back in August 2014, Daesh terrorists overran Sinjar, killing, raping, and enslaving large numbers of Izadi Kurds.

The region was recaptured in November 2015, during an operation by Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Izadi fighters.