CAIRO, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Health Ministry reported 11,203 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the total nationwide infections to 749,525. Meanwhile in Lebanon, restaurants, bars, cafes, gyms and malls closed their doors as the country entered its first day of a two-week lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The pandemic has so far claimed 41,034 lives in Iran, up by 452 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.
A total of 552,747 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 5,642 remain in intensive care units, Lari added.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday announced that new restrictions will be implemented from Nov. 21 in most parts of the country to deal with the recent surge of the coronavirus.
In Lebanon, vehicles are permitted to drive on specific days according to their plate numbers during the two-week lockdown, while police are deployed across the country to issue tickets for violators of the lockdown rules.
Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections has surpassed 100,000 while the death toll is approaching 800.
The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 2,419 new COVID-19 cases, raising the number of nationwide infections to 516,915.
It also reported 43 new deaths and 2,370 recovered cases, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 11,623 and the total recoveries to 444,226 in the country.
Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi held a meeting to discuss means to increase testing capacity to contain the spread of coronavirus, the ministry said in a separate statement.
Al-Tamimi highlighted the need to build new oxygen factories in all provinces of the country to treat COVID-19 patients, in addition to the health awareness campaigns among the citizens, according to the statement.
Turkey reported 3,116 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the country to 411,055, the Turkish Health Ministry announced. Meanwhile, 92 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 11,418.
Saudi Arabia announced 349 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total tally to 352,950, while the death toll rose by 16 to 5,641.
Israel's Ministry of Health reported 573 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections to 323,268. Meanwhile, the death toll reached 2,720 with four new fatalities, and the number of recoveries rose to 312,573.
In the meantime, Morocco registered 5,875 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally in the North African country to 288,211, the health ministry said in a statement.
It also reported 66 new deaths, raising the death toll in Morocco to 4,697 and the total recoveries rose to 234,904.
In Jordan, 4,750 new COVID-19 cases and 86 more deaths were recorded, increasing the tally of cases to 141,305 and the death toll to 1,704.
The Qatari health ministry announced 203 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 135,570.
Meanwhile, 221 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 132,577, while the fatalities remained at 234 for the third day running, according to the ministry.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced 1,174 new cases on Saturday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 149,135.
The tally of recoveries in the UAE rose to 142,561 while the death toll remained at 528.
Kuwait reported 691 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 136,341 and the death toll to 835 in the country.
The Kuwaiti health ministry also announced the recovery of 558 more patients, taking the total recoveries in the country to 126,902.
Palestine reported 653 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections in the Palestinian territories to 74,350, including 633 deaths and 65,361 recoveries. Enditem