CAIRO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran reported on Wednesday 16,409 new coronavirus cases, raising the country's caseload to 2,707,761. Meanwhile, Turkey will gradually ease lockdown restrictions after the Eid al-Fitr festival that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The pandemic has so far claimed 75,934 lives in Iran, up by 366 in the past 24 hours, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said in a written briefing published on its official website.
A total of 2,162,087 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 5,501 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said.
In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the lockdown-ease decision in a video speech for the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.
"Having taken the pandemic under control, we will take normalization steps in a controlled manner after the fest," Erdogan said.
Turkey on Wednesday confirmed 13,029 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,496 symptomatic patients, raising the total number of cases in the country to 5,072,462, according to its health ministry.
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 232 to 43,821, while the total recoveries climbed to 4,801,291 after 35,167 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours.
The Tunisian government also decided to ease a series of COVID-19 restrictions from May 14 until June 6.
Travel between all governorates will resume without authorization from May 14 at 5 a.m. local time, while places of worship and malls will reopen from May 16, according to Hasna Ben Slimane, spokeswoman of the government.
The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported 4,666 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the total infections to 1,127,580.
It also announced 21 new COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 15,855, while the total recoveries in the country climbed by 5,417 to 1,023,584.
According to a ministry statement, 21,675 people in Iraq were vaccinated against COVID-19 during the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total number of doses received to 465,099.
Lebanon registered on Wednesday 703 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 534,388, while the number of deaths from the virus increased by 22 to 7,549, the Health Ministry said.
The Qatari Health Ministry on Wednesday announced 392 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 212,124.
Meanwhile, 862 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 204,408, while the fatalities increased by three to 519, according to a ministry statement.
In Morocco, a total of 268 people were tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, raising the national tally to 514,432, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
In the past 24 hours, five people have died from the disease, taking the death toll to 9,088 in the country, while the total number of recoveries from COVID-19 increased by 288 to 501,692.
A total of 5,994,379 people have received so far the first vaccine shot against COVID-19 in Morocco, and 4,441,667 people the second dose.
Algeria on Wednesday reported 199 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the North African country to 124,682.
The death toll from the virus rose to 3,350 after seven new fatalities were added, said the Algerian Ministry of Health in a statement, adding 154 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 86,857.
Israel's Ministry of Health reported 30 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the total number of cases in the country to 839,030.
The death toll from the virus rose by one to 6,379, while the number of patients in serious conditions decreased from 80 to 71, out of 129 hospitalized patients.
This is the lowest number of patients in serious conditions in Israel since July 1, 2020 when it stood at 59.
The total recoveries in Israel rose to 831,826 after 88 newly recovered cases were added, while the number of active cases decreased to 825, the lowest since March 20, 2020.
The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel has reached nearly 5.43 million, or 58.2 percent of its total population. Enditem
