COVID-19 cases, fatalities on rise in Arab countries

By Zeynep Hilal Karyagdi and Safiye Karabacak

ISTANBUL (AA) - Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Palestine announced more fatalities linked to the novel coronavirus on Saturday as they continued efforts to contain the disease.

- Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Health Ministry reported that eight more people died due to the virus, with 163 new cases identified.

Total deaths in the country caused by the virus have reached 6,176, while the overall case count now stands at 362,066.

The number of people recovering from the disease was 353,004 with 189 additions, the ministry added.

- Jordan

The Jordanian Health Ministry announced 1,050 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 286,356.

As much as 2,339 patients have recovered, pushing the tally to 258,651.

The death toll in the country also increased by 18, reaching 3,729, the data shows.

- Palestine

In a written statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry said 21 more people have died from the virus in the last 24 hours in territories under Israeli occupation and blockade and that 1,306 new cases have been identified.

The statement said 514 of the new cases were identified in the occupied West Bank and 792 in the blockaded Gaza Strip, while nine of the dead were in the West Bank and 12 in the Gaza Strip.

In the Palestinian territories with a population of about five million (West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem), the total loss of life with the latest data reached 1,406, the total number of cases reached 148,540, and the number of recoveries 123,121.

-COVID-19

The virus outbreak has claimed more than 1.75 million lives in 191 countries and regions since last December.

Over 80 million cases have been reported worldwide, with more than 45.25 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of the number of cases.

*Writing by Merve Berker