CAIRO, Sept 19 (NNN-MENA) – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Iran surged to 416,198 yesterday.
Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region, reported 3,049 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 416,198.
The pandemic has so far claimed 23,952 lives in Iran, up by 144 in the past 24 hours. A total of 355,505 COVID-19 patients have recovered, with 3,869 still in critical condition.
Saudi Arabia announced 576 new cases and 31 more deaths, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 328,720 and the death toll to 4,430.
The kingdom also reported 1,145 more recovered patients, taking the total recoveries to 308,352.
In the mean time, 4,305 new COVID-19 cases were detected in Iraq during the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide infections to 311,690.
The death toll from the virus in Iraq rose to 8,408 after 76 fatalities were added.
Hassan al-Khalatti, a member of the health parliamentary committee, told the official Iraqi News Agency that the health ministry is planning to prepare makeshift hospitals with around 9,000 beds in Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces, to enable current hospitals to return to their usual medical services.
The ministry also directed the provinces and the provincial health departments to build a central epidemiological hospital in each province in preparation for other possibilities during the coming period, Khalatti said.
In Qatar, 224 new cases were detected, increasing the total number to 122,917, including 209 deaths and 119,822 recoveries.
Kuwait reported 704 new cases, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 98,528, of whom 580 have died and 88,776 recovered.
In Morocco, the tally rose to 97,264, after 2,760 new cases were added, the biggest single-day increase so far, which included 1,755 fatalities and 76,690 recoveries.
The Moroccan government decided on the day to extend the implementation of the restrictive measures in Casablanca, the worst hit city, in order to curb the proliferation of the virus.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 865 new cases, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 83,433.
The tally of recoveries rose to 72,790 after 673 more patients recovered from the virus and the death toll reached 403 with one more death.
Palestine reported 692 new cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 44,037, including 30,942 recoveries and 286 deaths.
A senior Palestinian official said that the health ministry will strengthen efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories amid a surge in daily fatalities and infections.
In Lebanon, the number of COVID-19 infections increased by 750 to 27,518, while the death toll went up by 18 to 281.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen’s government-controlled provinces increased to 2,024, as two new cases were confirmed.
The death toll of the pandemic climbed to 585 in different areas of the government-controlled provinces, including the southern port city of Aden. So far, the pro-government health authorities have recorded 1,221 recoveries.– NNN-MENA