The archbishop stressed that free COVID care was essential in Erbil, which is home to many refugees and displaced people, and the Nineveh Plains, where unemployment was up to 70 percent. Local reports describe an upsurge in cases in Erbil and Qaraqosh, and Archbishop Warda highlighted concerns especially about the virus spreading within Christian communities.
Archbishop Warda emphasised that private hospital COVID care is prohibitively expensive and that state hospital beds are full. He added that, rather than coming to Maryamana to receive the oxygen, nurses and doctors would use refillable bottles to treat people at home.
The diocese expects to treat 70 Covid patients a week. The oxygen generator will be sent to Erbil from Turkey and will take a week to install. The objective is to have it up and running before Christmas.ACN has already provided medical equipment for the Maryamana hospital, which was opened in 2016.
Iraq is a priority country for ACN which increased its help, providing emergency and pastoral aid, after the 2014 Daesh (ISIS) invasion of Nineveh and Mosul, which sparked a humanitarian crisis. The situation remains delicate with security challenges continuing four years on from the military defeat of the militants.
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