Morocco and Lebanon reported their first deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday as governments in the region try to prevent the outbreak growing as rapidly as it has in Iran, where nearly 300 people have died.
A 89-year-old woman died in Morocco on Tuesday, becoming the first death from the virus in the country.
The woman was one of three infected cases reported in Morocco and had already been suffering from chronic respiratory, heart and artery problems, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
In Lebanon, a 56-year-old Lebanese man who returned to the country on Feb. 20 from Egypt died after contracting the virus, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.
He died at the Rafik Hariri Hospital, the only facility treating coronavirus victims in the country.
A total of 41 cases have been confirmed in Lebanon.
In the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry reported five new cases, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 20.
The five cases include three Saudis who arrived from Iran and Iraq, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia has taken a number of precautionary measures to curb the spread of the virus, including the suspension of flights to and from 14 countries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
The kingdom has also imposed an overnight closure of the Grand Mosque in the city of Mecca and the Prophet Mohammed’s Mosque in Medina.
It also halted Umrah pilgrimages to Mecca.
It temporarily suspended study at schools, universities and other educational institutions as of Monday.
The number of cases ticked up in Kuwait, which now has 69 cases in total; in the UAE, which reported 15 new cases, for a total of 74.
In Egypt, number of infections has risen to 59; Qatar, where 18 cases have been detected; Bahrain with 95 cases and Jordan with one case.
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli decided to suspend all activities that involve large gatherings or those that require the movement of people in large numbers between provinces.
Tunisia, which has recorded five infections, has postponed a number of cultural events, including the Tunis International Book Fair and Carthage Poetry Days. Algeria has 20 cases.
After tightening its travel entry rules, Israel said on Tuesday that tourists are being given time to leave the country “in an orderly manner in coming days,” though it did not give an exact date.
According to dpa information, tourists who want to stay will not be forced to leave the country.
Starting on Thursday evening, tourists will only be allowed to enter Israel if they can prove they are able to organize 14 days in quarantine, while the new rule is already in force for Israelis.
Thousands of Israelis are currently in self-isolation. According to the Health Ministry, there are 58 confirmed cases in the country.
There are currently 29 confirmed cases in the West Bank city of Bethlehem and all tourists have been evacuated from the West Bank.
Iran’s government said that run-off parliamentary elections set for April could be postponed because of the coronavirus crisis, with spokesman Ali Rabiei telling the Tasnim news agency that the polls could be pushed back as far as August.
The coronavirus has hit Iran particularly hard. It reported 54 more Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, raising the total to 291.
The number of officially recorded cases in the country rose to 8,042, more than 881 over the previous day, said Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur.
Because of the risk of infection, the majority of political events have been cancelled in addition to the closure of schools and universities.
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