Blog archive all

1st August 2020
Week ending 1 August 2020   REGIONAL OVERVIEW   More than 97,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Middle East and North Africa during the past week, though many others are not recorded in the official figures. Among the 20 countries monitored, Iran… Read more
25th July 2020
Week ending 25 July 2020   REGIONAL OVERVIEW   More than 1.2 million people in the Middle East and North Africa have so far been infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus. Across the 20 countries monitored new cases currently average around 14,000 a day, though many… Read more
18th July 2020
Week ending 18 July 2020   REGIONAL OVERVIEW   The past week has brought a small but possibly significant decline in the overall number of new Covid-19 infections across the Middle East and North Africa.  Over the past seven days new cases in the 20 countries… Read more
13th July 2020
When the coronavirus swept into the Yemeni city of Aden there was little to stand in its way. The war-torn country was already in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and this time last month people were falling ill and dying in untold numbers. Few received any medical treatment because the… Read more
11th July 2020
Week ending 11 July 2020   REGIONAL OVERVIEW   More than a million people in the Middle East and North Africa have now been infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus according to official figures, though many more cases have probably gone undetected. Among the 20… Read more
5th July 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
During the last two weeks the Gulf state of Oman has seen a shift in the pattern of its coronavirus epidemic. Previously, most of the new infections were occurring among foreigners – predominantly migrant workers from poor countries. That has now changed and the majority of new cases are Omani… Read more
4th July 2020
Situation report: week ending 4 July 2020   REGIONAL OVERVIEW   In most countries of the Middle East and North Africa the initial wave of Covid-19 infections has passed its peak but so far only Jordan and Tunisia appear to have brought it under control. Most… Read more
2nd July 2020
The Palestinian authorities have declared a total lockdown in the West Bank just five weeks after their previous one was lifted. The decision comes amid a dramatic rise in new Covid-19 infections which has more than doubled the number of known cases in the space of a week. The new lockdown will… Read more
30th June 2020
Iraq's run-down healthcare system is contributing to the spread of coronavirus rather than helping to contain it, according to a report issued last week: ● Medical staff are kept working when they should be in isolation; ● Hospitals are kept open when they should be closed to prevent further… Read more
27th June 2020
By: Brian Whitaker
Situation report: week ending 27 June 2020   REGIONAL OVERVIEW   The initial wave of Covid-19 infections has passed its peak in most countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Many have now embarked on a step-by-step process of easing lockdowns and other… Read more