Coronavirus tally soars in Arab countries

By Mehmet Nuri Ucar, Hamdi Moussa, Safiye Karabacak, Yosra Ouanes and Muhammed Semiz

ISTANBUL (AA) – Jordan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates announced new coronavirus infections and fatalities Thursday as efforts continued to contain the deadly virus.

-Jordan

The Health Ministry announced 8,300 more cases, bringing the number of infections in the country to 457,151.

The death toll rose by 63 to 5,169.

A total of 382,949 people have recovered from the disease so far.

- Yemen

Another 40 cases were reported in Yemen, according to a statement by the National Committee for the Fight Against the Coronavirus.

The country’s total number of cases stands at 2,667.

The death toll rose by six to 667, while the number of recoveries stands at 1,464.

There is no data on the number of cases and fatalities in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-backed Houthi militias.

- Iraq

Another 26 people in Iraq died in the past 24 hours, pushing nationwide fatalities to 13,671, according to the Health Ministry.

With 5,170 new infections, the caseload rose to 745,642. A total of 674,345 recoveries have been recorded.

- Libya

Libya reported 10 deaths, 1,073 new cases and 778 recoveries. The new total is 2,340 fatalities, 142,671 infections and 129,706 recoveries.

-Tunisia

Tunisia’s Health Ministry reported 21 more fatalities due to the coronavirus.

The ministry said in a statement that the country’s tally of casualties from the virus had reached 8,313.

It noted that 609 more patients were diagnosed with the disease, bringing the total count of infections to 239,977.

The country’s recoveries top 206,293.

- UAE

Sixteen more people in the UAE have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 1,369. As many as 2,087 new cases were identified, pushing the total to 419,996. The country’s recoveries total nearly 400,000.

- Worldwide

The pandemic has claimed more than 2.6 million lives in 192 countries and regions since December 2019.

More than 118.4 million cases have been reported worldwide, with an excess of 67 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara