People wearing face masks leave a bus station in Tehran, Iran, July 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmad Halabisaz)
-- Iran's coronavirus cases reach 252,720, with 12,447 deaths;
-- Saudi Arabia reports 3,159 new cases, 226,486 in total;
-- Egypt's total cases exceed 80,000;
-- Iraq records 2,848 new COVID-19 cases, highest daily increase since outbreak.
CAIRO, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The total number of COVID-19 cases in Iran surpassed 252,000 on Friday. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's tally exceeded 226,000.
Iran, the worst-hit country in the Middle East, said that the number of coronavirus cases rose to 252,720 on Friday after an overnight registration of 2,262 new infections.
During her daily briefing, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said out of the new cases, 1,455 were hospitalized.
The pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 12,447 in Iran, up by 142 in the past 24 hours, she said.
Saudi Arabia's coronavirus cases rose to 226,486 with the registration of 3,159 new infections.
The recoveries increased to 163,026 with the registration of 1,930 new recovered cases, and the death toll reached 2,151 with the recording of 51 fatalities.
A customer wearing a face mask shops at a supermarket in Ankara, Turkey on July 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)
Turkey reported 1,003 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally of confirmed cases to 210,965. Meanwhile, 23 more people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,323.
Egypt confirmed 981 new COVID-19 infections and 85 fatalities, bringing the total cases registered in the country to 80,235 and the death toll to 3,702, said the health ministry.
Musicians perform during a concert at Cairo Opera House in Cairo, Egypt, on July 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
The Iraqi Health Ministry on Friday recorded 2,848 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily increase since the outbreak of the disease in the country, bringing the total nationwide infections to 72,460.
The ministry in a statement confirmed 78 more deaths, raising the country's death toll from the infectious virus to 2,960.
Also on Friday, a statement by the Iraqi Higher Commission of Human Rights (IHCHR) warned of the spread of coronavirus pandemic due to deterioration of health conditions inside prison facilities.
IHCHR's teams in Baghdad and other provinces have recorded a total of 111 infections of COVID-19 among inmates and personnel in Iraqi prisons and detention centers, the statement said, while calling on the government to take steps to curb the spread of the pandemic among inmates.
The Omani health ministry announced on Friday 1,889 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total confirmed number in the country to 53,614.
The ministry said that eight new fatalities were reported, bringing the death toll to 244, while the tally of recovered cases rose by 1,204 to 34,225.
A bird lover trains parrots during a parrot-training show in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate, Kuwait, July 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Ghazy Qaffaf)
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 473 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 54,050.
The UAE also confirmed two more deaths, pushing the country's death toll to 330.
Qatar's Health Ministry on Friday announced 520 new infections of COVID-19, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 102,630.
Some 961 people recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 98,233, while four others died, raising the fatalities to 146, the ministry said.
In Israel, the number of coronavirus cases rose to 36,266 on Friday, with 1,441 new daily cases, the state's Ministry of Health said.
This is the second highest daily figure since the outbreak of the pandemic in Israel in late February.
The number of death cases increased from 348 to 351, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 122 to 130, out of 465 patients currently hospitalized.
Kuwait on Friday reported 740 new COVID-19 cases and one more death, raising the tally of infections to 53,580 and the death toll to 383, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Morocco confirmed 249 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally of infections to 15,328, including 243 deaths and 11,827 recoveries.
Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Friday by 71 cases to 2,082 while the death toll remained 36.
Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan said that the national committee for the fight against COVID-19 will take strict measures to curb the continuous rise in cases in the country. ■