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25th April 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
So far, Libya has only 61 confirmed cases of Covid-19 but limited capacity for testing means an unknown number of infections are going undetected. At the same time, Libya faces a series of additional problems that make tackling the virus more difficult. The country is now in its ninth year of… Read more
24th April 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Yemen is officially clear of coronavirus cases following the recovery of its first – and so far only – Covid-19 patient. A Yemeni man working in the port of ash-Shihr, on the Indian Ocean coast of Hadramaut province, was diagnosed with the virus on April 10. The town was immediately placed under… Read more
23rd April 2020
In Saudi Arabia the number of known Covid-19 infections has more than doubled during the past week. Earlier this month, when the tally was just over 2,000, the health minister warned that expert studies were predicting a minimum of 10,000 and a maximum of 200,000 confirmed cases "over the next few… Read more
22nd April 2020
More than 60 cases of Covid-19 have been detected at a prison in Morocco. This is the third outbreak in the country's jails which altogether hold about 80,000 prisoners. On April 8, a staff member staff at the vast Loudaya prison in the desert near Marrakesh was taken ill with the virus and,… Read more
21st April 2020
Jordan is taking further steps to ease restrictions amid signs that the country's Covid-19 outbreak is subsiding. On Sunday, businesses and government offices were allowed to reopen in the southern province of Aqaba which has so far remained virus-free. From today, a specified range of businesses… Read more
20th April 2020
Click to enlarge" src="/sites/default/files/flow-chart.jpg" style="border-style:solid; border-width:1px; height:334px; width:500px" /> Kuwait's health ministry is discriminating between Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis in its allocation of treatment for Covid-19 patients, according to a document… Read more
19th April 2020
Today, shops, businesses and government offices are re-opening in Jordan's southern province of Aqaba. This is the first step in what the government hopes will be a gradual return to something resembling normality in an area which is officially free of Covid-19 infections. There are still some… Read more
18th April 2020
The total of known Covid-19 infections in Sudan has more than doubled since yesterday. Following the latest batch of test results there are now 66 confirmed cases. So far, 10 people have died. These are small numbers in comparison with many other countries but there are signs that the spread of the… Read more
17th April 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Migrant workers are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus epidemic in the wealthy Gulf states. Often living in over-crowded accommodation, they are at particular risk of infection. Many are now also jobless. Some have been deported. Thousands more want to return home – but can't. India… Read more
16th April 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
A couple of weeks ago Reuters news agency reported that Iraq probably has several thousand more Covid-19 cases than the official figures show. Its report quoted three doctors closely involved in the testing process, a health ministry official and a senior political official – all speaking… Read more