CAIRO, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Monday reported 2,434 new COVID-19 cases while Saudi Arabia confirmed 1,993 new infections, as the Middle East states are tightening anti-coronavirus precautions for the upcoming Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
In Iran, the hardest hit country in the Middle East, the overall number of the novel coronavirus cases has grown to 293,606, while the pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 15,912 Iranians, up by 212 in the past 24 hours, according to Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
She said 1,436 of the new coronavirus patients detected in the past 24 hours in Iran have been hospitalized.
Meanwhile, the Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiee was tested positive for coronavirus, official IRNA news agency reported Monday, noting Rabiee's overall condition is "satisfactory."
Besides, Iran and Iraq have reopened border crossings for trade exchanges after a five-month hiatus in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, Iran's Eghtesad Online news website reported Monday.
Saudi Arabia has so far confirmed 268,934 coronavirus cases in the kingdom, amid a slowdown trajectory of daily infections in the past month.
The Saudi Ministry of Health reported 27 more deaths and 2,613 new recovered cases, increasing the death toll to 2,760 and the total recoveries to 222,936.
Turkey reported 919 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 227,019, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
In addition, 17 people died in the past 24 hours from the virus, taking the death toll to 5,630, while 982 patients recovered in the past 24 hours, raising the total recoveries to 210,469.
Earlier in the day, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu announced that passenger flights Turkey and Russia as well as Kuwait, India and South Africa will resume from Aug. 1.
The Turkish government was also considering resuming flights with Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, Kenya and Uzbekistan, Karaismailoglu added.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned of an increase in COVID-19 infections during Eid al-Adha holiday in Iraq, as the Iraqi health ministry reported 2,553 new COVID-19 cases in the country, raising the total infections in the country to 112,585.
"Iraq is not yet out of the danger phase, and a wave of high infections is inevitable unless there is a commitment to preventive health measures and social distancing to limit the spread of the virus," Wael Hatahit, head of the WHO's emergency team in Iraq, said in an interview with the official al-Sabah newspaper.
The Qatari health ministry on Monday announced 292 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the Gulf state to 109,597, official Qatar News Agency reported.
The ministry attributed the increase in coronavirus infections to gatherings and visits as well as ignoring the preventive measures such as staying at home and social distancing.
Egypt registered on Monday 420 new COVID-19 infections, taking the total number in the country to 92,482, said the Health Ministry.
It is the lowest daily increase registered in Egypt since May 16 when 491 new cases were confirmed, after which daily cases started to rise, with a record 1,774 infections on June 19.
Monday also marked the 18th consecutive day of Egypt's COVID-19 daily infections to fall below 1,000.
Oman reported 1,053 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total number in the country to 77,058, according to a statement by the Omani health ministry.
The ministry also reported nine new fatalities from the virus, bringing the death toll to 393, and 1,729 more recoveries, raising the total recoveries to 57,028.
The government "urges all citizens and residents to be very careful during Eid al-Adha days, and appeals to them to reduce movement during daylight hours and to abide by the decision to lockdown in the evening," said the country's Supreme Committee tasked with tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in a statement.
Israel's Ministry of Health reported 2,029 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the total infections in the country to 63,985.
This is the third time since the outbreak of the pandemic in Israel in late February that the daily infections exceed 2,000.
Israel's business sector activity has shrunk to the lowest level since 2001 amid the coronavirus crisis, according to a survey issued by the state's central bank on Monday.
With 333 daily new cases, Palestine on Monday announced that it would soon implement new precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories as Eid al-Adha will start on Friday.
"The Palestinian worshippers will serve the prayers in the morning of the first day of Eid al-Adha in public yards and squares for no more than 15 minutes, and they must abide by the protective precautionary measures," said Ibrahim Milhem, spokesman of the Palestinian government, at a news briefing.
The number of coronavirus infections in the Palestinian territories has totalled 13,457.
In Kuwait, 606 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths were reported on Monday, raising the tally of infections to 64,379 and the death toll to 438.
Kuwait will start the third phase plan of restoring normal life on July 28, in which labor capacity will increase to no more than 50 percent, with visits to social care homes allowed and curfew hours further reduced.
As the first among the Gulf countries to report COVID-19 cases, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced 264 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 59,177.
The UAE health ministry also confirmed one more fatality from the virus, pushing up the country's death toll to 345.
A total of 609 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Morocco on Monday, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the North African country to 20,887.
Earlier in the day, Moroccan Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb warned at a press briefing in Rabat that the spread of COVID-19 in Morocco is becoming a big concern given the surge in infections in the past week.
In Lebanon and Libya, the number of COVID-19 cases on Monday rose by 132 and 158 respectively to 3,882 and 2,827.
