Baghdad/Xinhua/UNI: Iraqi Health Ministry on Friday confirmed a total of 820 COVID-19 cases and up to 54 deaths across the country.

Out of the 48 cases confirmed during the past 24 hours, five in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 12 in Dhi Qar, 11 in Sulaimaniyah, nine in Najaf, four in Basra, three in Erbil, one in the provinces of Kirkuk, Muthanna, Babil and Anbar each, the ministry said in a statement.

No deaths were registered during the day, according to the statement.

So far, out of the total confirmed cases, 54 died and 226 others recovered, according to the statement.

Separately, Ahmed al-Sahaf, spokesman of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Iraqi nationals, living outside Iraq, has reached to 161, of whom seven have died.

The highest number of the total infected cases outside the country was 37 in Norway and 22 in Sweden, according to al-Sahaf.

On Tuesday, the Iraqi Health Minister Jaafar Sadiq Allawi, who heads the Iraqi crisis committee to contain COVID-19, told the local Dijla TV channel that the committee decided to extend the curfew until April 19.

To help Iraq cope with the coronavirus epidemic, a Chinese team of seven experts has been working with their Iraqi counterparts since March 7.