A member of medical staff wearing protective gloves takes a swab from a man during drive-thru coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing at Bahrain Exhibition Center in Manama. -- Courtesy photo

By Ismaeel Naar

DUBAI -- The number of coronavirus cases across the six countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is fast approaching the 12,000 mark after new infections detected on Friday brought the total to 11,925 so far.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia recorded 364 new cases bringing its total to 3,651 while confirming three deaths. Two people died in the United Arab Emirates which detected 370 new cases to bring its tally to 3,360. Cases in Qatar rose to 2,512 after 136 new cases were reported. In Kuwait, 83 new cases were confirmed while Bahrain and Oman saw 32 and 39 new cases respectively.

Several new measures were imposed across some of the GCC countries on Friday as efforts ramp up to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the UAE, 129 individuals were referred to the Public Prosecutor’s office for violating coronavirus quarantine rules and not adhering to the time period specified.

Saudi Arabia also imposed a complete lockdown on several neighborhoods in the city of Madinah on Friday, as part of efforts in the Kingdom to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

Kuwait’s health minister has asked those who have recovered from the COVID-19 coronavirus to donate their blood so that doctors could use the plasma to treat currently infected patients.

The worldwide death toll from the novel coronavirus hit 100,000, according to Johns Hopkins University tally. -- Al Arabiya English