Virus Spikes Amid Disbelief and Mistrust

Coronavirus cases are surging in Iraq amid widespread shirking of restrictions like mask-wearing and doubt about whether the pandemic is real.
 
New daily cases, which were under 600 a month ago, reached 3,896 on last week. Half of them involve the variant discovered in the UK.
 
Compared with war, political violence, and sanctions, COVID-19 “may not stack up as a major problem” says Mac Skelton, of  the American University of Iraq in Sulaimaniyah.
 
Plus, a hospital-centric pandemic response must confront Iraqis’ mistrust of a dilapidated central health system, and hospitals.
 
AP