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As COVID Cases Spike in Middle East, More Countries Restrict Ramadan Activities
Muslim worshippers perform the evening Tarawih prayer during the fasting month of Ramadan around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque complex in the holy city of Mecca, on April 13, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)

As COVID Cases Spike in Middle East, More Countries Restrict Ramadan Activities

Turkey, Iran, Oman, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon experience particularly high volume of new infections

Several countries in the Middle East are experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections, leading governments to curtail nighttime festivities during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan instituted a partial lockdown for the first half of Ramadan and extended the weekend curfews to May 17, with the restrictions to begin at 7 pm instead of 9 pm. The measures also included the closure of recreational areas and measures such as banning the use of public transportation for seniors. Turkey has the fourth-highest rate of new COVID-19 cases worldwide, according to Reuters.

Iran is in the middle of a nationwide lockdown set to end at the beginning of next week. This follows an increase in infections after Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which begins on the first day of spring. This week, the country hit a 2021 record for deaths on one day of 258.

On Wednesday evening, Oman announced an evening curfew for Ramadan following a spike in cases that leaves the country facing a shortage of hospital beds.

In Syria on Tuesday, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava, put in place a curfew in locales controlled by Kurdish forces.

Iraq on Monday, after recording its highest number of cases last week, declared a partial lockdown throughout Ramadan during workdays, which will transition to a complete lockdown on weekends.

That same day, Lebanon greenlighted rules limiting when people can venture out at night during the holiday.

Also on Monday, Kuwait’s cabinet limited the duration of the Tarawih evening prayer –performed during Ramadan in addition to the nightly Isha prayer – at mosques to 15 minutes and prohibited all communal break-fast events at night, whether in public or private. This went further than Saudi Arabia, which only stopped outside of the home gatherings when eating is allowed.

The World Health Organization acknowledged the regional rise in cases this week when it tweeted some of the remarks of its director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, following a media briefing on Monday: “Several countries in Asia and the Middle East have seen large increases in #COVID19 cases. This is despite the fact that more than 780 million doses of vaccine have now been administered globally.”

Still, not all countries in the MENA region face increasing restrictions on movement, for example, Jordan and Egypt, which enjoy more open economies than they did 12 months ago. In the latter nation, people can dine at restaurants indoors and freely go to mosques with coronavirus safety measures in place.

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Middle East and North Africa as of 7 am Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0) on Thursday.

Country Confirmed Cases Deaths Recovered Active Cases
Afghanistan 57,534 2,533 52,022 2,979
Algeria 118,975 3,141 82,929 32,905
Bahrain 159,964 569 148,093 11,302
Cyprus 53,254 277 39,061 13,916
Djibouti 10,202 106 8,591 1,505
Egypt 212,961 12,570 161,031 39,360
Iran 2,143,794 65,359 1,739,002 339,433
Iraq 949,050 14,836 831,519 102,695
Israel 836,504 6,312 827,184 3,008
Jordan 676,175 7,987 617,096 51,092
Kuwait 251,675 1,423 235,053 15,199
Lebanon 502,299 6,778 413,175 82,346
Libya 170,045 2,834 155,117 12,094
Mauritania 18,066 452 17,428 186
Morocco 503,664 8,920 489,928 4,816
Oman 175,633 1,807 155,645 18,181
Pakistan 739,818 15,872 646,652 77,294
Palestinian Territories 274,690 2,923 239,291 32,476
Qatar 192,963 348 171,388 21,227
Saudi Arabia 401,157 6,781 385,441 8,935
Somalia 12,837 656 5,346 6,835
Sudan 31,790 2,208 25,539 4,043
Syria 20,555 1,402 14,335 4,818
Tunisia 276,727 9,480 229,754 37,493
Turkey 4,025,557 34,734 3,480,146 510,677
United Arab Emirates 489,495 1,541 473,398 14,556
Yemen 5,582 1,083 2,128 2,371
Total 13,310,966 212,932 11,646,292 1,451,742

 

Steven Ganot contributed to this report.

 

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