CAIRO, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkey, the hardest-hit country by the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, has reported more than 146,000 confirmed cases, while the tally in Iran surpassed 116,000.
Turkey on Friday confirmed 1,708 new COVID-19 cases and 55 more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 146,457 and the death toll to 4,055.
A Turkish company recently launched the first domestic production of a drug to be used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The production has been progressing at the facility of the pharmaceutical company in the Cerkezkoy district of Tekirdag Province, some 150 km from Istanbul, under the surveillance of about 100 scientists.
Iran on Friday reported 2,102 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 116,635.
The Islamic republic also registered 48 new deaths, bringing the death toll to 6,902, Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said in his daily update briefing.
Tourist sites in Iran's central province of Isfahan have been allowed to reopen as restrictive measures imposed to contain the COVID-19 spread are relaxed in the country.
Saudi Arabia registered on Friday 2,307 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the kingdom to 49,176.
The Saudi health ministry said on Twitter that 2,818 more have recovered from the virus, bringing the tally of recoveries to 21,869.
Israel reported a rise of 10 COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 16,589, which included 266 deaths and 12,587 recoveries.
The Qatari health ministry on Friday announced 1,153 new infections of COVID-19, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 29,425, of whom 25,865 are under treatment.
The United Arab Emirates on Friday announced 747 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 21,831.
Kuwait reported 885 new cases of COVID-19 and eight more deaths, raising the tally of infections in the country to 12,860 and the death toll to 96, the health ministry said in a statement.
Currently, 9,124 patients are receiving treatment, including 190 in ICU, according to the statement.
Egypt reported 21 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll in the North African country to 592, the health ministry announced Friday.
The number of the confirmed cases in Egypt grew by 399 to 11,228, while the number of recoveries rose by 137 to 2,799.
The Omani health ministry announced on Friday 284 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number in the country to 4,625.
In Iraq, the health ministry reported 117 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally of confirmed cases to 3,193.
Morocco reported 45 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 6,652.
In the last 24 hours, 90 people have recovered from the disease, bringing the total recoveries to 3,400 since the first case was reported on March 2, said Mohamed El Youbi, director of epidemiology at the ministry, at his daily briefing.
Lebanon's tally of COVID-19 cases increased by eight to 891, while the death toll remained at 26.
The Lebanese cabinet has imposed a full shutdown nationwide starting Wednesday evening which will last until Monday morning, in order to contain a resurgence of the infections.
Yemen's health authorities on Friday recorded 21 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the war-ravaged Arab country to 106.
