The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday said that they are stepping up their collaboration to help vulnerable people in Iraq to cope with the impact of coronavirus pandemic.

The two agencies and other partners are working to "identify an additional 35,000 Syrian refugees and 10,000 people displaced by conflict who will be included in WFP food assistance programs to help them cope with the impact of COVID-19," UNHCR and WFP said in a joint statement.

According to the statement, WFP will now reach 76,000 refugees who will receive food assistance and 280,000 internally displaced persons, many of them were in a position to stop receiving assistance but are now being pushed into food insecurity due to the impact of the pandemic.

Refugees and internally displaced persons are among the groups most affected by the pandemic in Iraq, because they frequently depend on daily and seasonal employment to put food on the table. Much of this type of work has stopped amid lockdowns and precautionary measures.

"To help families purchase basic hygiene items to prevent the spread of COVID-19, UNHCR continues the second month of hygiene cash assistance, supporting 550,000 refugee, internally displaced, and returnee members of the community," said the statement, adding this is part of UNHCR's package of assistance which includes strengthening health care services and disinfection activities in camps.

"We call upon the donor community for additional support as we scale up our response because many people cannot work at this time and needs have increased," said Acting Representative of UNHCR in Iraq Philippa Candler, and WFP Representative in Iraq Abdirahman Meygag, in a joint statement.

According to the statement, UNHCR and WFP in Iraq are respectively appealing for 26 and 31.9 million U.S. dollars for their COVID-19 response.

Both agencies are also implementing emergency livelihood projects to provide essential support to vulnerable families and inject cash into the local communities, it added.

The statement came as the Iraqi Health Ministry confirmed 119 new COVID-19 cases, a record high since the outbreak in Iraq, bringing the total number of infections to 3,032 in the country.

On April 26, a Chinese team of medical experts left Iraq after a 50-day stay to support the Arab nation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. China has also donated batches of medical supplies to Iraq to help combat the coronavirus.