DOHA — Qatar has passed the grim milestone of 100,000 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, the health ministry said on Monday.

The Gulf's second worst-hit country has now 100,345 confirmed infections, by which 546 new cases were detected on Monday alone.

The death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 133 following five new deaths over the last 24 hours, said the ministry.

Meanwhile, 1,614 patient have recovered fully, taking the overall number of recovered patients up to 93,898. While 706 people are currently under acute hospital care with 62 admissions in the past 24 hours.

The new daily rise of 546 is a minor decrease on the previous day's increase of 616.

Only about 12% of Qatar's population are Qatari nationals and, as in other Gulf states, Qatar saw COVID-19 spread among low-income migrant workers living in crowded quarters.

With a population of about 2.8 million people, the energy-rich Gulf state has one of the world's highest per capita numbers of confirmed cases.

Qatar, which did not impose curfews, began a four-phase lifting of restrictions on June 15. The second phase began on July 1, allowing the limited reopening of restaurants, beaches and parks. — Agencies