Coronavirus infections in Qatar rise 1,000% in ONE DAY as cases go from 24 to 262
- Ministry of Public Health announced 238 new cases of COVID-19 across nation
- Qatar has not reported any fatalities due to the virus but has closed universities
- It has also cancelled the MotoGP and refused travellers from some 14 countries
Coronavirus infections in Qatar have risen by 1,000 per cent in one day as the number of confirmed cases jumped from 24 to 262.
The Ministry of Public Health announced today that 238 new cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed across Gulf nation.
Qatar has not reported any fatalities due to the virus but has closed universities and schools, cancelled public events such as the MotoGP and banned travellers from 14 countries from entering the nation.
‘The Ministry of Public Health announced today that it recorded 238 new confirmed cases of coronavirus 2019,’ the ministry said in a statement.
Pictured: The Losail Circuit Sports Club in Lusail city, north of the Qatari capital Doha
Many of the initial cases diagnosed in Qatar stemmed from a group of citizens and their foreign staff who had been repatriated to the Gulf country from Iran.
It comes as Iran today reported 63 new deaths from coronavirus, its highest single-day toll in the three weeks since the Islamic republic announced the first deaths from the outbreak.
The outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran is one of the deadliest outside China, where 80,969 cases of the virus and 3,158 deaths have been confirmed.
In an attempt to combat the disease, which has claimed most lives in the capital of Tehran, firefighters were deployed this morning to spray disinfectant over the city’s streets.
Iran today reported 63 new deaths from coronavirus, its highest single-day toll in the three weeks since the Islamic republic announced the first deaths from the outbreak
Iran’s Health Ministry said the deaths are among some 9,000 confirmed cases in Iran, where the virus has spread to all of the country’s provinces.
‘Based on new lab results, we have identified 958 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the country, bringing the total number of cases to 9,000,’ health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
‘Unfortunately in the past 24 hours, we have had reports of 63 deaths and overall 354 have lost their lives’ to the virus, he added.
The capital Tehran had the most new infections with 256 cases.
The central province of Isfahan followed with 170, and Semnan, to the east of Tehran, had 63.
Iran is yet to officially impose quarantines but authorities have repeatedly called on people to refrain from travelling.