Coronavirus Spreads in the Middle East as 5 New Countries Report Cases

Epoch Times ^ | 02/24/2020 | Jack Phillips

[SeekAndFind]

Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Oman, and Iraq reported their first coronavirus cases on Monday, all involving people who had been in Iran.

Bahrain confirmed a single case, a citizen who arrived from Iran via Dubai, the health ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency. The patient was identified as a school bus driver and had worked Sunday, dropping off children at two schools.

“All family members and individuals who have been in contact with the patient were contacted and tested to ensure they are free of the virus, as well as being placed under supervision for 14 days at a designated quarantine center for suspected cases,” the agency said.

The health agency said that families of the students who took the bus have been tested for COVID-19, according to the agency. Schools and kindergartens will be closed down for two weeks on the island nation.

Afghanistan confirmed its first case of the virus in Herat Province and declared a state of emergency in an area bordering Iran.

“I ask people to try to stay at home and restrict their movements,” Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz told media outlets about the situation in Herat. Three suspected patients returned from Iran to the province, said the country’s ministry of health, and the confirmed patient had returned from Qom, which is the home to the majority of Iran’s cases.

[Jewbacca]

It’s certainly possible.

But a lab accident strikes me as most likely.

[dangus]

China mostly seemed to have it under control... if you believe their data at all. When I learned of the Iran outbreak, I started considering buying massive amounts of jerky, PB and US-grown rice.

[gandalftb]

The Hajj Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca is:
.................
Tue, Jul 28, 2020 – Sun, Aug 2, 2020
...............
Attendance: 7,952,121 (2018)

[sauropod]

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