Coronavirus in Middle East: 17 deaths, 1,234 new cases reported in Iran

Dubai: A total of 17 coronavirus patients has died in Iran on Friday, bringing the total number of deaths in the Islamic Republic to 124, according to Sky News Arabia.

Iranian health authorities has also detected 1,234 new cases infected with Covid-19, which is a record number in the recent days, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 4,747, Kyanosh Jahanpur, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health, said.

“The new cases were probably infected with the virus two weeks ago (from outside the country) and came back to Iran after they developed symptoms,” AFP reported quoting the official.

This comes at a time when the Iranian people are panicked by the government plans developed to deal with possible infections where 300,000 individuals, including Basij forces, are set to be deployed to conduct tests for people in their homes. This has raised fears of transmission.

Iran is believed to have the highest number of coronavirus cases in the Middle East, followed by Kuwait and Bahrain. Meanwhile, Cyprus, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen are still free from the illness.

12 new cases in Egypt

Health authorities in the populous country has reported on Friday 12 new cases among Egyptian workers onboard a Nile cruise ship. The new cases takes the overall tally of infections to 15.

The latest cases were discovered after Egyptian authorities were alerted by the World Health Organisation that a US-born Taiwanese tourist, who had stayed on the ship, tested positive for the Covid-19 after her home return, spokesman for the Egyptian Health Ministry Dr Khaled Mejahed said.

Bahrain

In Bahrain, four new cases of coronavirus were reported on Friday, taking the total number of infected patients to 56, Al Arabiya reported.

Also on Thursday, the health ministry confirmed four new infected cases. On the other hand, the health ministry on Thursday said that three coronavirus cases have fully recovered.

Seven cases in Palestine

In the occupied territories, the health authorities confirmed late on Thursday seven coronavirus cases in the West Bank. The seven Palestinians are under quarantine.

Health Minister Mai Al Kailah said the ministry decided to conduct tests on employees who came in contact with Greek tourists who stayed at a hotel where they work.

“Our medical teams examined the workers and found later that seven people tested positive,” she said at a press conference.

Consequently, the ministry announced a state of emergency in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Jericho over suspected coronavirus cases.

As a precautionary measures, all educational institutions and training centers in the Bethlehem will be closed for a period of 14 days. All mosques and churches, including Nativity church in Bethlehem, will also be closed for a fortnight. The ministry said a hotel in Bethlehem was quarantined due to a number of suspected cases.

While in Israeli, Health Ministry confirmed a new coronavirus case in the occupied East Jerusalem, raising the total number to 16.

Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of Health yesterday announced the recovery of one of the Saudi female citizens infected by the new Coronavirus in the Kingdom of Bahrain following a completion of all medical examinations and measures, adding that the female citizen is currently in a good health and has been discharged from the medical isolation.

No cases of Covid-19 were reported on Friday. However, a couple tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the kingdom to five.

The authorities revealed that the infected man was in Iran and came back to the country through Kuwait without disclosing that he was in Iran. The man transmitted the disease to his wife. All the five cases reported so far have got the infection from Iran.

As precautionary measures, the Grand Mosque in Mecca has been closed after Thursday’s Isha prayers. The mosque stayed closed until Friday’s Fajr prayers. The move aimed to prevent the potential spread of coronavirus and protect Umrah pilgrims who came to the kingdom before the entry ban.

Kuwait

No cases of coronavirus was announced on Friday in Kuwait after yesterday’s two patients, who took the number of total infections to 58.

Meanwhile, Health Minister on Thursday announced the first recovery in a coronavirus case in the country. The Minister Basel Al-Sabah said that the patient’s tests showed that a 36-year-old Kuwaiti citizen is no longer infected with Covid-19, reported the official KUNA news agency.

Oman

The Minister of Health on Thursday reported one new case of Coronavirus for a citizen returning from Milan, the capital city of Italy. The case is said to be in stable condition and under quarantine.

With this, the total number of confirmed cases in the Sultanate reached 16 (15 linked to recent travel to Iran and one linked to recent travel to Italy. Worth mentioning, two cases have fully recovered and the other cases reported to be in stable condition.

The Ministry of Health urged people to adhere to quarantine procedures and avoid public places or places of worshiping.

Lebanon

Lebanon’s coronavirus cases rose to 16 on Thursday after a Lebanese woman coming from Britain tested positive for the virus, the Health Ministry said.

The woman had been admitted into the American University of Beirut Medical Center on Wednesday.

Iraq

Iraq’s health ministry today reported the first recovery of the virus out of the total 34 confirmed cases, most of them are linked to neighbouring Iran.

Earlier yesterday, Iraq announced the first two confirmed deaths due to the new coronavirus disease, according to the BBC.

A woman with a compromised immune system and a 65-year-old man who suffered from chronic diseases died on Wednesday in the capital, Baghdad.

There were also conflicting reports about a 70-year-old cleric who died in Sulaimaniya, in the Kurdistan Region.

Kurdish officials said the death was the result of Covid-19, but the health ministry said that was not confirmed.