Cairo: Oman has recorded 576 new cases of the novel coronavirus, taking to 12,800 the country's overall infections, the Omani news agency ONA reported Tuesday.
The newly diagnosed cases include 209 Omanis and 367 foreign residents, the Health Ministry said without giving a breakdown of foreign patients’ nationalities.
The ministry also reported nine new deaths from COVID-19, taking the country's total such fatalities to 59.
The overall recoveries in Oman have reached 2,812.
Oman's Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq, meanwhile, ordered setting up a new central laboratory for public health, ONA said.
The state-of-the art facility is geared towards helping "meet required needs under all circumstances", the agency added.
The sultan made the order Tuesday at a meeting he chaired of the Supreme Committee tackling COVID-19. He praised efforts by different agencies battling the virus, mainly health workers and security bodies.
ONA quoted Sultan Haitham as urging strict compliance with precautions against COVID-19 and getting adapted to the new situation gradually, pointing out that there is no appropriate treatment yet for the disease.
