BAGHDAD: Covid-19 infections in Iraq surpassed one million on Wednesday, the health ministry said, a figure unmatched in the Arab world, in a country that has long faced medical shortages.

The ministry reported 8,696 new coronavirus infections and 38 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the country’s outbreak in February last year to 1,001,854, including 15,098 deaths.

The ministry has said it carries out around 40,000 tests daily from a population of 40 million.