Chinese medical experts install CT scanner to help tackle COVID-19 in Iraq

A team of Chinese medical experts completed the installation of a CT scanner at a quarantine center in Iraqi capital Baghdad, as part of China's efforts to help Iraq cope with the spread of COVID-19.

Chinese medical experts Wang Anming (C) and Tao Zhongquan (1st L) train the Iraqi health workers to operate the CT scanner at a quarantine center in Baghdad, capital of Iraq, April 25, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Chinese experts, who were dispatched to Iraq last month, have been working for several days to install the devise at al-Shifaa Hospital and train the Iraqi health workers to operate the device.

The installation of the CT scanner in the quarantine center was aimed at helping the medical staff diagnose patients.

"The advanced device will greatly contribute to quick testing, and reduce the risk of virus transmission," Hassan al-Timimi, Director General of the Medical City, who attended the inauguration of the CT scanner in the quarantine center, told Xinhua.

Al-Timimi expressed his hope to continue cooperation with the Chinese side to provide information as well as the necessary equipment and supplies to Iraq.

"We are happy and proud in our friendship with the Chinese side," al-Timimi said.

He sent special thanks to the Chinese experts who were "very keen to continue cooperating with the Iraqi medical cadres and the transfer of accurate information."

On March 7, 2020, the Chinese medical team consisting of seven experts arrived in Baghdad to work with their Iraqi counterparts as part of the Chinese aid to Iraq to confront the novel coronavirus outbreak.

On March 25, a PCR lab was built by the Chinese experts in the Medical City, based on Chinese donation of nucleic acid test kits and other equipment.

As of Friday, a total of 1,708 COVID-19 cases were confirmed and 86 deaths were recorded in the country.