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Bahrain records first coronavirus death in GCC

AFP/Manama

March 16, 2020 | 11:51 AM

Bahraini policemen seal off a building housing foreign workers in the Salmabad industrial area as a precautionary measure after a resident tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), on the outskirts of the capital Manama on March 13.

A Bahraini woman has died from the novel coronavirus, the health ministry announced on Monday, marking the first death from the disease among Gulf Co-operation Council states.

The 65-year-old woman had pre-existing medical conditions, the ministry said on Twitter.Nearly 1,000 cases of the virus have been recorded so far across the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).Most of those infected have been people returning from Iran, where more than 700 people had died in the outbreak by Sunday.Facing a mounting public health threat the GCC nations have taken drastic measures to combat the pandemic.Kuwait has taken the strictest measures in the GCC by largely locking down the country over the weekend.

By AFP/Manama

March 16, 2020 | 11:51 AM