Over Half of Infected Israeli Students from Ultra-Orthodox Sector

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

More than half of Israeli students infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, are from the country’s ultra-Orthodox communities, the Education Ministry revealed on Thursday.

Ultra-Orthodox students account for 19.39% of the country’s education system and 51.8% of the infected pupils, the report states, with a total infection rate of 1.75%, compared to 0.63% among non-ultra-Orthodox students.

The number of coronavirus cases in Israel as of Thursday stood at 283,532, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, with 1,846 deaths and 220,046 recoveries.

Iraq

The largest annual religious gathering in the world is underway in Iraq, and authorities are concerned about the potential for a coronavirus outbreak, the Reuters news agency reports.

Many of the tens of thousands of Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims who have arrived at the holy city of Kerbala for the Arba’een religious observance are reportedly not social distancing or wearing masks. Authorities have closed the country’s borders to most foreign pilgrims, including around 3 million Iranians, although Iraqis are pouring into the city.

There were 394,566 total infections in Iraq as of Thursday, with 9,683 deaths and 323,815 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker.

Morocco

Morocco on Thursday extended the country’s state of health emergency until November 10 as part of efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The total number of infections in the country as of Thursday stood at 140,024, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, with 2,439 deaths and 118,142 recoveries.

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Middle East and North Africa as of 17:00 UTC on Thursday.