Iran suffers 48 deaths ... UAE 8

TEHRAN, May 9, (Agencies): Iranian authorities announced, on Saturday, 48 deaths due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours, bringing the total succumbing to the virus to 6,589.

A Health Ministry official said that the number of those contracting COVID-19 reached 106,220 in the country after 1,529 new cases were registered.

Those recovering from the virus reached 85,064.

UAE

The United Arab Emirates declared eight new deaths from the novel coronavirus, raising the death toll to 165.

UAE Ministry of Health said in a statement that 502 new infection cases were registered raising the tally to 16,240.

Up to 213 patients who suffered from the virus infection recovered, the UAE ministry of health said, adding that more than 33,000 medical examinations were conducted on citizens and residents of the country.

The new fatalities were of various nationalities.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia reported 10 fatalities due to the novel coronavirus, taking the Kingdom’s death toll to 229 so far.

The number of infections with the highly contagious respiratory disease shot up by 1,701 to 35,432 since the outbreak of the deadly bug in the Kingdom, the Saudi Health Ministry’s Spokesman Mohammad Al-Abdulali said in his daily news briefing.

In addition, a total 1,322 patients have been cured of the COVID-19, raising the count of recoveries to 9,120, while 141 others are still languishing in intensive care units, the spokesman added.

Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported two death cases due to the novel coronavirus, and 60 more infections.

This brings the total number of deaths and cases of the deadly virus in Iraq up to 2,603 and 104 respectively, the ministry said in a press statement.

However, 35 patients from different provinces have recovered from the highly contagious disease, the ministry added.

Egypt

The novel coronavirus has killed 21 more people in Egypt, bringing the country’s death toll to 503, said the Ministry of Health.

The deadly virus has also infected 495 more people, including two foreigners, in Egypt, raising the total number of infections to 8,476, the ministry’s spokesman Khaled Mujahed in a press statement.

Out of the total figure, 1,945 patients have recovered from the respiratory disease, the spokesman added.

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi approved amendments to the country’s state of emergency that grant him and security agencies additional powers, which the government says are needed to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

An international rights group condemned the amendments, saying the government has used the global pandemic to “expand, not reform, Egypt’s abusive Emergency Law.”

The new amendments allow the president to take measures to contain the virus, such as suspending classes at schools and universities and quarantining those returning from abroad. But they also include expanded powers to ban public and private meetings, protests, celebrations and other forms of assembly.

The government has waged an unprecedented crackdown on dissent since 2013, when el-Sisi rose to power, and unauthorized protests have been banned for years.

The amendments also allow military prosecutors to investigate incidents when army officers are tasked with law enforcement or when the president orders it. The country’s chief civilian prosecutor would have the final decision on whether to bring matters to trial.

The amended law would also allow the president to postpone taxes and utility payments as well as provide economic support for affected sectors.

Parliament, which is packed with el-Sisi supporters, approved the measure last month.

Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 2017, and the government extended it late last month for another three months. The law was originally passed to give the president broader powers to combat terrorism and drug trafficking.

The government said the amendments were needed to address a legal “vacuum” revealed by the coronavirus outbreak. Egypt, with a population of 100 million, has reported at least 504 deaths among around 8,500 confirmed cases.

However, only five of the 18 amendments are clearly related to public health, and the new powers can be used whenever a state of emergency is declared, Human Rights Watch said.

“Some of these measures could be needed in public health emergencies, but they should not be open to abuse as part of an unreformed emergency law,” said Joe Stork, the New York-based group’s Middle East and North Africa director.

“Resorting to ‘national security and public order’ as a justification reflects the security mentality that governs Sisi’s Egypt.”

Morocco

Some 163 more Moroccans have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, increasing the total number of cases to 5,711, said the country’s Ministry of Health.

Three patients died of the highly contagious disease, bringing this North African country’s mortality rate to 186 since the outbreak of the disease in the country, the ministry said in a press statement.

Comparatively, a further 145 people have recovered from the respiratory disease, raising the count of recoveries to 2,324, the ministry added. Turkey Turkey reported 1,848 additional cases of the novel coronavirus, raising the tally to 135,569, said Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca.

Turkey also recorded 48 new fatalities due to the globally spreading virus, bringing the death toll to 3,689, the minister said in a press statement.

A total of 3,412 patients have been cured of the respiratory disease, increasing the total number of recoveries to 86,396 since the outbreak of the disease in the country, he added.

Furthermore, over 33,687 more tests have been conducted, taking the total number of tests to 1.2 million, the minister noted.

Palestine

Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Al-Kailah said that no infection with the novel coronavirus was reported in the last 24 hours.

Thirty-seven patients have even recovered from the highly contagious virus, raising the number of recoveries to 282 in Palestinian territories, the minister said in a press statement.

The latest figures of recoveries shows that more than half of the recorded patients have been cured of the deadly virus.

Palestine has now recorded a total of 547 cases and four fatalities due to the COVID-19.

Oman

The Omani Ministry of Health reported one more death due to the novel coronavirus, bringing the Sultanate’s death toll to 16.

The latest fatality is a 43-year-old infected resident, the ministry said in a press statement, carried by Oman’s official news agency.

The total number of coronavirus cases still stands at 3,112, with 1,025 recoveries.