Iran re-emerges as hardest-hit Mideast country by COVID-19

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Iran has re-emerged as the hardest-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East region, as the country is witnessing a respike of the pandemic with its confirmed cases going beyond 173,000.

Iran reported a total of 173,832 coronavirus cases on Monday after an overnight registration of 2,043 new ones, Xinhua news agency reported.

The pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 8,351 Iranians, up by 70 in the past 24 hours. Besides, 136,360 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals while 2,619 remain in critical condition.

Iran's health officials have urged the people to wear face masks in public places, particularly in the public transport vehicles as the country has started to restart businesses and social activities.

In Turkey, now the second hardest-hit country in the Middle East, the COVID-19 cases increased by 989 on Monday to 171,121, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

Meanwhile, 19 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 4,711, and the total recoveries grew to 141,380, Koca said.

Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines on Monday announced that it would offer a 40-percent discount on tickets for healthcare workers across the globe.

"The Turkish Airlines started a new campaign for the healthcare workers who are working selflessly to combat the COVID-19 pandemic," the airline said.

With no significant signs of slowdown in the pandemic, Saudi Arabia registered 3,369 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the accumulated infections in the kingdom to 105,283.

The death toll from the virus increased to 746 with 34 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours, while the number of recoveries reached 74,524 after 1,707 more have recovered.

Egypt on Monday registered 1,365 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 35,444, said the health ministry.

The death toll from the disease in the North African country rose to 1,271 after 34 fatalities were added, while a total of 9,375 recoveries have been registered.

The Israeli Ministry of Health reported 169 new coronavirus cases, raising the total number to 18,032. while the death toll remained at 298.

Israel has decided to stop all steps to ease restrictions that were planned for the coming days given an increase in COVID-19 morbidity, the prime minister's office said.

Train services in Israel did not resume as scheduled to reoperate on Monday, while the reopening of theaters and cinemas, scheduled for June 14 under restrictions, will be postponed for at least one week.

Iraq's Health Ministry confirmed on Monday 1,115 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 13,481 in the country.