Arab countries report more deaths from COVID-19

By Khalid Mejdoup, Said Ibicioglu and Hacer Baser

ISTANBUL (AA) - Health authorities in five Arab countries confirmed new cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus Saturday as the region continues to battle the pandemic.

The United Arab Emirates reported three people died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 321.

A total of 716 infections were recorded, taking that figure to 50,857, while recoveries rose by 704 to 39,857.

Morocco said 534 people tested positive for the virus, taking the number of infections to 13,822 and recoveries to 9,329.

Two more people died while the death toll from the disease stands at 232.

Officials in Yemen said two more people died from COVID-19.

It confirmed eight additional cases of the coronavirus and one person recovered.

A total of 337 people died due to the virus while the number of recoveries totaled 537. There are 1,248 coronavirus cases in Yemen.

The figures relate to regions under government control since April 10 when the first case was detected.

Yemen has been devastated by a bloody conflict that escalated in March 2015 after Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee.

Health authorities in Tunisia said five new cases were registered, pushing the figure to 1,186.

Recoveries stand at 1,046. The number of fatalities is 50.

Egypt said 79 more fatalities pushed the number of deaths to 3,280, while recoveries reached 20,103 with 413 additions.

The country recorded 1,324 new cases in the past 24 hours, raising the overall count to 74,035.

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

The US, Brazil, and Russia are currently the countries hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed more than 528,200 people worldwide, with an excess of 11.1 million confirmed cases and greater than 6 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.