Almost Half of Iran-Bahrain Repatriation Flight has Coronavirus

Seventy-seven of the 165 Bahraini citizens brought back from Iran aboard a special Tuesday repatriation flight have tested positive for coronavirus, the Health Ministry in Manama announced on Wednesday. It was the first flight chartered by Bahrain’s government to bring citizens back from Iran, which has been the Middle Eastern epicenter for the pandemic, with 8,042 cases and 291 deaths reported as of Wednesday morning. With the new cases, Bahrain is reporting 189 cases in all, 30 of them having recovered, and no deaths. Outside Iran, Lebanon is the only Middle Eastern country reporting a death toll, with the first two victims coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. The country has 52 reported cases. The rest of the passengers on the flight home to Bahrain have entered a mandatory period of quarantine.