COVID-19 case tally surges in five Arab states

The death tally from coronavirus rose in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Libya on Monday, according to their health authorities.

In a statement, the Omani Health Ministry said four people had died from COVID-19, bringing the nationwide death toll to 108.

A further 1,043 new cases were detected over the past 24 hours, pushing the count to 24,524, the ministry said.

In Bahrain, the Health Ministry confirmed 3 fatalities due to the virus, while 317 people tested positive for the disease.

The Gulf state's tally now stands at 18,483 confirmed cases, including 45 fatalities.

Kuwait's death toll rose to 298 after two people had died from the disease, according to the country's health ministry.

A ministry statement said 511 new infections were registered, bringing the figure to 36,431, while 772 people had recovered, pushing the recoveries to 27,531.

In Libya, two people lost their lives to the virus, bringing the overall death toll to 10, according to the country's National Center for Disease Control.

The center said 36 new cases were recorded, taking the total infections to 454.

In Morocco, the Health Ministry said 45 new infections were registered, bringing the figure to 8,838.

The country's death toll remains at 212, while the number of recoveries rose to 7,779 after 14 patients had recovered from the virus.

Since originating in China last December, the pandemic has claimed over 433,400 lives in 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil and Russia are currently the world's worst-hit countries.

Some 7.91 million cases have been reported worldwide, while some 3.77 million patients have recovered so far, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.