CAIRO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 202,000 on Saturday, while Turkey's tally surpassed 186,000.
Iran, which has re-emerged as the hardest-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East region, reported 2,322 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 202,584.
The pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 9,507 people in Iran, up by 115 in the past 24 hours. A total of 161,384 coronavirus patients have recovered, while 2,842 are still in critical condition.
Meanwhile, Turkey reported 1,248 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally of infections in the country to 186,493, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose to 4,927 after 22 more fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, he said, adding the total recoveries rose to 158,828.
Over 1.5 million secondary school students across Turkey took a high school entrance exam on Saturday amid a nationwide partial lockdown against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the recommendation of the Health Ministry's Scientific Committee, Turkish authorities earlier announced a partial curfew in 81 provinces from 9 a.m. (0600GMT) to 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) over the concerns of the spread of coronavirus due to the crowd.
Saudi Arabia's cases continued the surging trend to 154,233 after 3,941 new infections were added.
The kingdom also reported 46 new deaths and 3,153 more recoveries, taking the death toll to 1,230 and the total recoveries to 98,917.
Qatar's health ministry on Saturday announced 1,026 new infections of COVID-19, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 86,488.
Egypt's coronavirus cases soared to 53,758 after 1,547 daily infections were added.
The Egyptian Health Ministry also reported 89 more deaths and 399 cases of recoveries, increasing the death toll to 2,106 and the total recoveries to 14,327.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday announced 388 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 44,533.
And 758 more patients have made full recovery from the virus, taking the tally of the UAE's recoveries to 31,754, according to the ministry.
Kuwait on Saturday reported 467 new cases of COVID-19 and six more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 39,145 and the death toll to 319, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Currently, 8,100 patients are receiving treatment in Kuwait, including 180 in ICU, according to the statement.
The Iraqi health ministry on Saturday recorded 1,870 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily increase since the outbreak of the disease, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 29,222.
The ministry also reported 88 deaths during the day, the highest single-day rise so far, as the total number of deaths jumped to 1,013, while 13,211 patients have recovered.
Ryadh Abdul-Amir, head of Iraq's Public Health Department, said in a statement that the ministry is working on a plan to increase the capacity of testing to detect more infected cases.
In Israel, 294 new COVID-19 cases were registered, raising the tally of coronavirus infections to 20,633.
The deaths from the virus in Israel increased by one to 305, while the recoveries rose to 15,659.
Algeria's confirmed infections reached 11,631 after 127 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours, while the death toll hit 837 and the recoveries reached 8,324.
Morocco witnessed 226 new cases, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases in the country to 9,839, which included 213 fatalities and 8,223 recoveries.
Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Saturday by 26 cases to 1,536 while the death toll remained unchanged at 32.
The Lebanese health ministry has conducted PCR tests for Palestinian refugees in Mieh Mieh camp and Syrian refugees in different camps all over the country.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Yemen's government-controlled provinces increased to 922, after three new cases were added.
The number of recoveries in the government-controlled areas, including the southern port city of Aden, increased to 328 and the death toll climbed to 254.
Palestine recorded 108 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number in the Palestinian territories to 979, including five deaths and 594 recoveries. Enditem
