COVID-19 death toll rises in Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain

The death toll from the novel coronavirus rose Wednesday in Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, according to health authorities in the three countries.

In a statement, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said four people had died from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide death toll to 338.

A further 742 cases were detected, bringing the total infections in the country to 41,775, the ministry said, adding that the number of recoveries rose to 32,809 after 505 people had recovered.

In Oman, the Health Ministry confirmed two additional fatalities, pushing the death toll to 142. As many as 1,142 more cases were registered, taking the figure to 33,536.

In Bahrain, one patient died from the disease, pushing the figure to 68 fatalities.

The Gulf state's toll now stands at 23,062 infections and 17,450 recoveries.

Since originating in Wuhan, China last December, the pandemic has claimed over 477,800 lives in 188 countries and regions.

More than 9.27 million cases have been reported worldwide, while over 4.63 million patients have recovered, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

* Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara