Coronavirus kills more in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman

By Diana Shalhoub, Adel al-Thabti and Ibrahim Saleh

ANKARA (AA) - The death toll from the novel coronavirus continued to rise in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman on Thursday, as the Middle East struggles to combat the spread of the pandemic.

In a statement, the Iraqi Health Ministry said 90 new fatalities and 2,281 cases were registered over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 86,148, including 3,522 deaths and 54,316 recoveries.

In Saudi Arabia, the Health Ministry said 45 people died and 2,764 others contracted the disease over the past 24 hours.

Thursday’s tally pushed the total cases to 243,238, including 2,370 fatalities, and 187,622 recoveries.

Also in Oman, the virus claimed nine more lives, the Health Ministry said, adding that 1,327 cases were recorded over the past 24 hours.

The ministry said the total number of cases in the country reached 62,574, including 290 deaths, and 40,090 recoveries.

In Kuwait, the Health Ministry said it registered three deaths and 791 fresh cases, pushing the total to 57,668, including 402 deaths, and 47,545 recoveries.

Qatar’s Health Ministry said the virus claimed one more life and infected 494 people, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 105,477, including 152 fatalities and 102,168 recoveries.

The Tunisian Health Ministry said eight more people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, pushing the nationwide infections to 1,327, including 50 deaths and 1,093 recoveries.

* Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara