By Joanne Serrieh

DUBAI -- Kuwait recorded 598 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, 178 new recoveries and seven deaths, a health ministry spokesman said on Monday.

The Kingdom has maintained a relatively high recovery number of recoveries with 2,907 out of a total 9,286 total cases having recovered so far, according to the health ministry.

Meanwhile, Kuwait has a low death rate of less than 0.7 percent, having recorded only 65 virus-related fatalities so far.

The ministry announced its highest daily toll Sunday with 1,065 new cases recorded within a 24-hour period. Meanwhile, the government imposed a lockdown the same day as its highest toll through May 30, in effort to slow the spread of the virus.

During the curfew, public sectors will work remotely and private sector activities, excluding vital ones, will be suspended, the statement said. All banks will be closed but will continue to provide services electronically.

Essential sectors like health, security, electricity, oil and municipal services, as well as private sector companies providing vital services like maintenance will be exempt from the curfew, Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh said in a televised news conference last week. -- Al Arabiya English