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Iraqi doctors under siege as they battle surge in COVID-19 cases

Doctors complain that they have been suffering violence and abuse from some families who blame medical personnel for patients' COVID-19 deaths.

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A medical worker wearing personal protective equipment adjusts her headgear as she prepares to take swabs from subjects being tested for COVID-19 in the 5-Miles area of Basra, Iraq, on June 2, 2020. — Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images

After the coronavirus hit this country of 39 million, doctors began receiving a torrent of abuse from families of COVID-19 patients, escalating the already high scale of violence in Iraq.

The pandemic has further revealed the fragility of Iraq's health system.

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