Turkey's total COVID-19 cases hit 2,133,373; Oman to begin vaccination campaign

CAIRO - Turkey's health ministry reported 15,118 new cases on Saturday, bringing the tally in the country to 2,133,373. Meanwhile, Iran's total cases increased to 1,194,963, with 5,760 new cases.

The death toll in Turkey rose to 19,624 with 253 new deaths and the total recoveries hit 1,994,034.

Oman will begin on Sunday the vaccination campaign with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

"The campaign targets, in the first stage, the most vulnerable groups to the pandemic, including frontline workers, people with chronic diseases and the elderly," said a health ministry statement.

The Omani health ministry earlier said 128,290 COVID-19 infections have been reported so far while the fatalities hit 1,491.

Iran's Health Ministry reported 5,760 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,194,963.

The pandemic has so far claimed 54,574 lives in Iran, up by 134 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education during her daily briefing.

A total of 942,548 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 5,273 remain in intensive care units, she added.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 3,624 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 398,015.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 3,203 with 17 new fatalities, while the number of patients in serious condition rose from 527 to 561, out of 977 hospitalized patients.

The total recoveries rose to 359,816 after 1,949 new recovered cases were added, while active cases stand at 34,996.

On Sunday, a third full nationwide lockdown will take effect in Israel, starting at 5 p.m. local time.

The lockdown, aimed to curb the recent jump in morbidity, will include movement restrictions, business closures, reduced activity of workplaces, public transportation and education system, and gathering limitations.

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 836 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 590,779.

The ministry also reported 12 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 12,767, and the total recoveries rose to 530,262.

Earlier, the Iraqi authorities imposed new restrictive measures to protect people from a new strain of coronavirus that was recently found in many countries.

The authorities also banned the entry of travellers from these countries, except for Iraqi citizens who must be quarantined for 14 days until a PCR test proves they are not infected with the virus.

Saudi Arabia reported 163 new cases, taking the tally to 362,066, and eight new deaths, bringing the death toll to 6,176. The total recoveries rose to 353,004.

Morocco registered 2,369 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally in the North African country since March 2 to 430,562, the health ministry said in a statement.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 396,095 after 4,175 new ones were added.

A senior Palestinian health official announced that Palestine would receive the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines within two weeks.

Kamal al-Shakhra, the Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman, told a news briefing in Ramallah that the ministry has contacted with the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure the vaccines for Palestine.

The ministry also contacted several international companies which produce the vaccines, and asked for speedy delivery, he said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported 1,227 new cases, taking the tally to 200,892, and two new deaths, bringing the death toll to 655. The total recoveries reached 177,407.

Jordan's ministry of health said 1,050 new cases were discovered, taking the tally to 286,356. The death toll increased to 3,729 with 18 new deaths. The total recoveries hit 258,651.

The Qatari health ministry announced 169 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 142,903.

It said 145 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 140,687, while the fatalities remained 244 for the second day running.

Kuwait's COVID-19 cases increased by 172 to 149,449, while the death toll rose by three to 929.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 250 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 145,380.