DUBAI: Countries in the Middle East have been implementing plans for a gradual return to normal life after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into strict lockdown measures.
Saudi Arabia has recently joined other Arab states including the UAE and Jordan that have eased restrictions on people’s movement.
But these countries have remained on high alert to avoid a new wave of infections.
April 26, 2020 (All times in GMT)
18:20 - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to 10 Downing Street on Sunday, Sky News reported, after spending a week in hospital with COVID-19 and two weeks recovering.
17:36 - Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) is coordinating with clients around the world to cut its crude supplies in line with commitments under a deal by oil producers to reduce output, state news agency KUNA reported.
KPC stressed its keenness to support the country’s role in making the agreement to rebalance global oil markets a success. The group of producers, known as OPEC+, has agreed to reduce output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for May and June.
13:40 - Saudi Arabia said it has set up six major regional laboratories in the Kingdom for coronavirus testing, each with a capacity to conduct 10,000 examinations daily.
13:29 - Saudi Arabia signed MoU agreements with China, Switzerland and the US to supply coronavirus test devices.
13:06 - Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior said gatherings are completely banned and should be reported to authorities during Ramadan.
13:04 - Saudi Arabia's health ministry reported three new coronavirus deaths, 1,223 new infected Covid-19 cases, and 142 cases have recovered, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 2,357.
11:24 – Qatar reported 929 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 10,287 infected people.
11:22 – UAE confirmed 536 new coronavirus cases, increasing the total to 10,349 infected people.
11:16 – Kuwait reported 183 coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 3,075 infected people in the country.
10:35 – Morocco confirms one coronavirus fatality, bringing the total to 160 deaths.
10:10 – Lebanon confirms three new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 707 infected people in the country.
10:00 – Iran’s coronavirus cases increase to 90,481 infected people while fatalities reach 5,710.
09:10 – Kuwait reported 150 new coronavirus recoveries, bringing the total to 806 recovered patients in the country.
09:05 – Spain’s number of coronavirus cases increased to 207,634 infected people while fatalities reached 23,190.
09:00 – The British government must not rush to ease the coronavirus lockdown and should act cautiously to avoid a second spike in infections and a second lockdown that would damage public confidence, its stand-in leader said.
Foreign minister Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from COVID-19, was pressed to reveal the government’s thinking on how and when Britain might begin to see an easing of social distancing measures.
07:30 – Oman confirmed 93 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,998.
06:50 – UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, applauded his country for conducting over one million COVID-19 tests. The country’s health minister, Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad bin Nasser Al-Owais, said they have done 1,022,326 tests. He said the procedure has been made accessible across the country through hospitals and initiatives including drive-through facilities.
06:45 – Israel recorded 100 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 15,398.
04:35 – Thailand has reported 15 new cases of coronavirus, but no new deaths.
00:49 – Saudi Arabia has allowed the opening of some economic and commercial activities during Ramadan.
The Kingdom has also partially lifted its curfew in all regions except in Macca.
00:40 – The US has recorded 2,494 new coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins Hospital.
00:25 – Mexico has confirmed its coronavirus toll has reached 13,842 with 1,305 fatalities.
