Israeli Hospital Launches Rapid COVID-19 Testing Pilot Program

The latest COVID-19 information and statistics for the Middle East and North Africa

Israel’s Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer has announced the start of a pilot program to provide speedy testing for the novel coronavirus. The largest hospital in the Middle East is collaborating with Israeli startup Newsight Imaging on the initiative.

The pilot program will conduct tests in the coming months with Newsight’s spectral device, which can identify and classify evidence of a virus in the body in less than a second, using light waves to analyze molecular content.

The spectral technology is not the actual innovation. The breakthrough is Newsight’s inexpensive Spectrometer-on-Chip device, which is about the size of a computer mouse.

Palestinian Territories

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry on Thursday reported a record rise in daily coronavirus cases, with 596 new confirmed infections. The new cases included 167 in the Hebron Governorate and 306 in the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem. The PA has so far identified 70 people who died from the disease.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi health officials on Thursday urged Muslims who are celebrating the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday that begins next Thursday evening to stick to coronavirus safety measures such as social distancing, washing hands with soap and wearing face masks.

Qatar

Qatar’s Health Ministry on Thursday listed 40 countries deemed to be at a low risk for coronavirus that are safe for travel as part of the gradual easing of restrictions in the Gulf country. Qatar will open to foreign travel for citizens and permanent residents starting August 1. Low-risk countries will be reviewed every two weeks, according to the statement.

Iran

The death toll in Iran from the novel coronavirus has passed the grim milestone of 15,000, Tehran’s Health Ministry said Thursday. The new data brings the official number of fatalities in the Middle East’s hardest-hit nation to 15,074. On Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani said 25 million people in Iran may have been infected with COVID-19 and that 30 to 35 million more Iranians are at risk of contracting the disease.

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Middle East and North Africa as of 7 am UTC on Friday.