More than 360,000 coronavirus cases in Middle East

The low reporting in some countries and civil conflicts across the region mean that the number of cases is continually undercounted.

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
A man wears a face mask and a protective face shield as he checks a woman's temperature, to let her go inside the mall, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), after shopping malls and bazaars reopened in Tehran, Iran, April 20, 2020 (photo credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/ALI KHARA VIA REUTERS)
A man wears a face mask and a protective face shield as he checks a woman's temperature, to let her go inside the mall, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), after shopping malls and bazaars reopened in Tehran, Iran, April 20, 2020
(photo credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/ALI KHARA VIA REUTERS)
There are more than 360,000 cases of coronavirus in the Middle East, according to official reports from governments across the region.
The number exceeded 360,000 on the morning of May 8 with more than 133,721 in Turkey and 103,135 in Iran. Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar also have large numbers of cases while some countries, such as Yemen, have only recorded 25 cases. The low reporting in some countries and civil conflicts across the region mean that the number of cases is continually undercounted.
The Middle East had around 300,000 cases in late April and 78,000 cases on April 1. This illustrates that many countries in the region have reduced the spread of the virus in recent weeks. Some countries, such as Jordan, used harsh lockdowns. Others, such as the United Arab Emirates, lead the world in testing per capita.
However, there are a wide variety of difference between approaches in the region, and even countries that sought to prepare such as Turkey have been hit hard.
In many cases, Middle East countries have more cases than their neighbors. For instance, Pakistan has a quarter of the cases of Iran. Greece has only 2,600 cases compared to Turkey.
In the UAE, reparation flights for foreign workers continue while in Saudi Arabia, the military police are helping enforce a lockdown. Recent reports at BBC indicate that Iran’s Mahan Air helped spread the virus around the region in February. Iran has also abused its prisoners, particularly the foreigners it holds as hostages, during the pandemic. Many prisons in Iran have seen rioting. Ahram media in Egypt reported on Thursday that the country has conducted more than 1 million tests. Egypt now has around 8,000 cases. Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia have sought to prevent journalists from reporting that cases may be higher in the countries than officially reported.
Meanwhile, international organizations have largely failed to aid people in Yemen, Libya and Syria, where swaths of the country are not controlled by the UN-recognized governments. This has left millions of people vulnerable and abandoned amid the pandemic. The WHO, for instance, didn’t even inform local authorities in eastern Syria when a man was found to have died of the virus. The overall number of new cases in the region leveled off to around 7,000 a day.