COVID-19 deaths, cases increase in Middle East

The novel coronavirus pandemic continued to claim lives in the Middle East on Sunday as the global death toll neared 372,000, reported Anadolu Agency.

Saudi Arabia confirmed 23 new deaths while Morocco reported three more cases.

In a statement, the Saudi Health Ministry said 1,877 new cases were registered over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 85,261.

The kingdom's death toll now stands at 503 with 62,442 recoveries.

Meanwhile, the Moroccan Health Ministry said the country's confirmed cases rose to 7,783 after three new infections were recorded.

It said 11 patients have recovered from the disease, taking total recoveries to 5,412.

Morocco has so far confirmed 205 deaths from the virus.

Egypt’s Health Ministry reported 46 new deaths, bringing the country’s total to 959.

The ministry said in a statement that there were nearly 25,000 confirmed cases in the country.

Yemen’s emergency coronavirus committee said three more people had died from the virus, bringing the country’s total to 80, while the number of confirmed cases had risen to 323.

Since first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The US, Brazil, Russia and several European countries are currently the hardest hit.

The pandemic has killed more than 371,995 people worldwide, with more than 6.1 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 2.64 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US. - BERNAMA