Israel starts reopening economy, Kuwait extends entry ban

Israel started reopening large parts of its economy on Sunday after an almost two-month COVID-19 lockdown, under a "Green Pass" program. Meanwhile, Kuwait extended a ban on entry of non-citizens to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic, reported Xinhua.

Shops, malls and street markets in Israel were opened for all, while access to gyms, hotels, concerts, theaters, cinemas, and other leisure sites and cultural events was allowed only for those who have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine or recovered from the illness, the Prime Minister's Office and Israeli Health Ministry said in a joint statement.

Vaccinated people could get a "Green Pass" status displayed on an app issued by the health ministry. Most school classes in Israel have also reopened and the rest is expected to do so by March, according to a government statement.

The "Green Pass" applies to about 3.2 million people in Israel who have received both shots or recovered from COVID-19, Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Sunday.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 3,452 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the total confirmed tally in the country to 747,965.

The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 5,563 after 37 new fatalities were added, while the total recoveries in Israel rose by 3,944 to 697,674.

Kuwait on Sunday started the extension of a ban on entry of non-Kuwaiti travellers to the country until further notice, under the order of Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Kuwait reported on Sunday 768 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 184,090.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced five more deaths, taking the death toll to 1,044, and 967 more recoveries, raising its tally of recoveries in Kuwait to 172,227.

Turkey reported 6,546 new COVID-19 cases, including 601 symptomatic patients, taking the total number of positive cases in the country to 2,638,422.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 77 to 28,060, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,523,760 after 5,002 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours, according to Turkish Health Ministry.

Turkey started mass COVID-19 vaccination on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine. More than 5,525,000 people have been vaccinated so far.

Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Health and Medical Education Ministry, said 7,931 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, pushing up the tally of infections in Iran to 1,574,012.

Between Saturday and Sunday, 74 new deaths related to the coronavirus were registered, raising the death toll in Iran to 59,483. A total of 1,344,791 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been released from hospitals, while 3,689 others are currently treated in intensive care units, she added.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Sunday 3,187 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 667,937.

It also confirmed 27 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,272, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 2,002 to 618,509.

Iraqi Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi said at a press conference that there is a significant increase in infections with the new strain of coronavirus and that critical cases increased from 123 to 316 during the past few days.

Morocco announced 207 new COVID-19 cases and six more deaths, taking the tally of infections in the North African country to 481,155 and its death toll to 8,554.

The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 464,664 after 621 more were added, according to the Moroccan health ministry.

The ministry also announced 21 new cases of the mutant strains of COVID-19 found in Britain and other countries, raising its total number in Morocco to 24.

Lebanon registered 1,685 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 355,056, while the coronavirus-related death toll in Lebanon went up by 43 to 4,340.

Oman's Health Ministry on Sunday announced 868 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total confirmed cases in the Sultanate to 139,362.

The tally of recoveries in Oman rose by 569 to 130,653, while the coronavirus death toll increased by three to 1,552.

In Qatar, the health ministry confirmed 459 new COVID-19 infections, raising the tally of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 160,426.

The tally of recoveries in Qatar surged by 480 to 150,220, while the total fatalities remained at 256, according to a ministry statement.