COVID-19 cases, deaths rise in UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait

ISTANBUL More coronavirus deaths and cases were reported in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Morocco, and Lebanon on Thursday. In the UAE, 552 new COVID-19 cases pushed the overall count to 12,481, while the death toll rose by seven to 552. A total of 2,429 patients in the country have recovered so far. Kuwait’s Health Ministry confirmed 284 new cases over the past 24 hours, raising the total to 4,024. Two more fatalities moved the death toll in the country to 26. The number of cases in Bahrain passed 3,000 on Thursday. A total of 116 new coronavirus cases pushed the overall count to 3,037, including eight deaths and 1,495 recoveries, the Health Ministry said in a tweet. In Morocco, 38 more cases raised the total to 4,359, including 969 recoveries and 168 fatalities. Lebanon's Health Ministry reported four new cases, raising the total to 725, while the death toll remained at 24. Over 3.21 million people in 186 countries and regions have been infected since the virus emerged in China last December, with the US and Europe being the world’s hardest-hit areas. A significant proportion of patients – close to one million – have recovered from COVID-19, but the disease has also claimed over 228,000 lives so far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the US. * Writing by Mahmoud Barakat