By Tamara Abueish

DUBAI -- Kuwait reported 55 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,355, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

One new virus-related death was also reported in a 79-year-old citizen who suffered from chronic illnesses, the ministry spokesman announced. This brings the total number of coronavirus fatalities in Kuwait to three.

Three new cases are related to travel, which includes two Kuwaitis who had been to the United Kingdom and a Kuwaiti who had been to France.

Out of the 55 new cases, 43 are of people who had direct contact with previously infected individuals.

The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, spreads primarily through droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose.

Nine others are currently under epidemic investigation to determine how they were infected.

A total of 176 people recovered from the virus in Kuwait so far, Minister of Health Basel Al-Sabah announced earlier in the day.

The number of daily reported cases in Kuwait seems to be dropping for the third consecutive day. On Monday, Kuwait reported 66 new cases, compared to 80 on Sunday -- a significant drop from the day before, when 161 new cases had been reported.

Kuwait imposed several precautionary measures last month to slow the spread of the coronavirus, including a daily 11-hour curfew from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. Anyone caught breaking the curfew will be jailed for up to three years and fined 10,000 Kuwaiti dinars ($32,000) in line with new laws, according to the country’s deputy prime minister. -- Al Arabiya English