Iran's death toll from COVID-19 nears 30,000

The total number of fatalities from COVID-19 in Iran approached 30,000 on Friday. Meanwhile, Israel reported 1,695 new coronavirus cases, marking a fourth consecutive day of decrease in the number of new infections, reported Xinhua.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region, announced 4,552 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, totalling 522,387 since the outbreak of the epidemic.

A total of 29,870 people in Iran have lost their lives from the novel coronavirus so far, up by 265 from a day ago.

As of Friday, 420,910 infected have recovered and been released from Iranian hospitals, while 4,684 people remain in critical condition in intensive care units.

Lari warned the spread pattern of COVID-19 is developing into a focus on family infections, and asked citizens to use online means to contact family members as much as possible.

In Israel, 1,695 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, taking the tally of coronavirus infections to 301,896. It marked a fourth consecutive day of decrease in the number of new cases.

The death toll of the virus in Israel increased to 2,141 while the recoveries rose to 262,503.

It is worth noting that the active cases in the country dropped to 37,249, the lowest figure since Sept. 18, when the second nationwide was imposed to curb the virus' resurgence.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office and the Health Ministry announced earlier on the day that the government has approved new coronavirus regulations for the first phase of exiting the lockdown, which will be in effect from Oct. 18 until Oct. 31.

In the meantime, 3,501 new COVID-19 cases were detected in Iraq during the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide infections to 420,303.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Iraq rose to 10,142 after 56 fatalities were added, while the total recoveries increased to 353,962 as 3,210 more patients recovered.

Hassan al-Khalatti, a member of the health parliamentary committee, told the official Iraqi News Agency that the health authorities are planning to close epidemiological wards in some hospitals and rely instead on a central hospital in each province for coronavirus patients.

Saudi Arabia announced 433 new cases and 17 more deaths, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 341,495 and the death toll to 5,144.

The kingdom also reported 468 more recovered patients, taking the total recoveries to 327,795.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey climbed by 1,812 to 343,955.

The death toll from the coronavirus in the country rose to 9,153 after 73 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours and the total recoveries increased to 301,098 with an addition of 1,419 more ones.

In Morocco, the tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 167,148 after the biggest single-day increase of 3,498 new cases were added, which included 2,818 fatalities and 138,989 recoveries, while 546 people are in intensive care units.

Earlier in the day, Morocco increased the number of mosques allowed to reopen to 10,000 from 5,000 previously, after more than seven months of closure.

In Qatar, 189 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected, increasing the total number to 128,992, including 222 deaths and 126,006 recoveries.

Kuwait reported 729 new cases, bringing the country's total number of infections to 114,744, of whom 690 have died and 106,495 recovered.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 1,412 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 112,849.

At the same time, 1,618 more patients have recovered from the virus, taking the tally of recoveries in the UAE to 104,943, UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention said. It also confirmed three more deaths, pushing the country's death toll to 455.

Egypt reported on Thursday late night 118 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total cases registered in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic to 105,033.

Meanwhile, 11 patients died from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 6,088, while 91 others completely recovered, increasing the total recoveries in the country to 98,011.

Total coronavirus recoveries in Egypt currently exceed 93 percent of the total cases registered in the most populous Arab country.

In Lebanon, the number of COVID-19 infections increased by 1,368 to 60,113, while the death toll went up by eight to 509.

Lebanon's Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan warned on Friday that the number of hospitals' beds have become unavailable to receive COVID-19 patients.

"Winter season is about to begin in Lebanon and we fear an increase in COVID-19 cases in this coming period," he said, urging people to be very cautious by taking serious precautionary measures.

Palestine reported 397 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 57,838, including 50,657 recoveries and 6,709 deaths.

Algeria announced 221 new infections from the virus, taking the tally to 53,998 with 1,841 fatalities and 37,856 recovered cases.

In Jordan, 1,539 new COVID-19 cases and 28 more deaths were recorded, increasing the tally of cases to 34,548 and the death toll to 310, while the total recoveries rose to 6,692 with 127 new ones.