Iraq's official death toll from the novel coronavirus has surpassed 2,000, the health ministry said, as the war-ravaged country's crippled healthcare system struggles to cope, AFP reported.

Health authorities announced there were now 51,524 cases of the Covid-19 disease in the country and that 2,050 people had died of the virus, while 26,267 people had recovered.

Iraq, which has recorded cases in all of its 18 provinces but mainly in Baghdad — a city of 10 million people — said it has carried out 556,000 tests since March.