Coronavirus cases in the Middle East almost at 7,000

The grim cycle of ballooning coronavirus cases in the Middle East continued Sunday with Iran reporting that in the past 24 hours, 49 more people had succumbed to the disease. This brings the death toll in the country to 194 and the number of cases to 6,566.

However, these are the official numbers; experts say there are reasons to believe the real toll, of both infections and deaths, is significantly higher. Iran’s latest announcement brings the total number of cases in the Middle East to well over 6,900.

Saudi Arabia’s health ministry said on Twitter on Sunday that there were four new cases of coronavirus, taking the total infections to 11 in the kingdom. It was reported that the four individuals, including three women, had interacted with another case reported previously who had been in Iran but did not disclose his travel details to the authorities, the ministry said. It is to be noted that all cases of the virus in the Middle East can be traced back, directly or indirectly, to Iran.

Kuwait said that it had discovered three new cases on Sunday, bringing the number of those infected in the country to 62, according to a statement by the Kuwaiti health ministry. The number of cases in both Lebanon and Palestine stands at 22 each. In Palestine, this includes 13 Americans who were on a “trip of a lifetime” to the Holy Land, and are now being quarantined near Bethlehem.

Drastic measures

Governments in the region have instituted a raft of measures to contain the highly contagious outbreak.

Like other countries in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia has banned travel to Iran. Saudi citizens could face prosecution if they travel to the country. Riyadh also asked Tehran to disclose the identity of Saudi citizens who visited the country since February 1.

Officials in Egypt toured Luxor to take stock, a day after 33 more cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed aboard a Nile cruise ship. Bahrain made the dramatic announcement that this month’s Formula One race will be run without spectators. The island kingdom has greatly curtailed air travel and urged both citizens and residents who travelled to Iran recently to present themselves for testing, failing which, they could face legal measures. Kuwait’s central bank announced on Sunday the setting up of a 10 million dinar ($32.79 million) fund to support government efforts to combat the disease.

Source: Gulf News