TEHRAN, IRAN – Iran’s\nparliament speaker has contracted the new coronavirus, the country’s\nhighest-ranking government figure yet to catch the disease, while in Israel,\nseveral top officials entered quarantine when the health minister tested\npositive on Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIran’s parliament announced Ali Larijani’s illness on its website, saying he\nwas receiving treatment in quarantine. Iran, the regional epicenter of the\nvirus, has been fighting one of the world’s worst outbreaks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAs Israel’s case count rose to over 6,800, including 34 deaths, the country was\nrattled by the diagnosis of its health minister, who has had frequent contact\nwith Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe Middle East has confirmed over 82,000 cases of the virus and over 3,600\ndeaths, most of them in Iran. Iran’s Health Ministry said Thursday that the new\ncoronavirus killed another 124 people, pushing the country’s death toll to\n3,160. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLarijani, a former Revolutionary Guard commander who enjoys close relations to\nSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has led Iran’s legislative body since\n2008. Over the years he has held various positions in the top ranks of Iran’s\ngovernment, including head of state television, minister of culture and\nsecretary of the Supreme National Security Council, which helps set foreign and\ndefense policy. A number of his family members also hold top government\npositions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIn a rare acknowledgment of the severity of the outbreak, Iranian President\nHassan Rouhani said the coronavirus may remain through the end of the Iranian\nyear, which just began late last month, state TV reported Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“We always have to follow the health protocols provided by the health\nministry,” Rouhani added.
\nIn Lebanon, the Philippines ambassador, Bernardita Catalla, died of\ncomplications from the virus Thursday, the Philippines said. Lebanon has\nrecorded 494 cases, including 16 deaths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIsraeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and his wife, who also caught the virus,\nare members of Israel’s insular ultra-Orthodox community, which has been\nparticularly hard-hit. Shortly after the announcement, Netanyahu’s office said\nhe returned to self-quarantine because of contact with Litzman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nNetanyahu, who has tested negative, had previously been in isolation after a\ntop aide contracted the virus. Hebrew language media reported that the head of\nIsrael’s Mossad spy agency and the National Security Council were asked to\nself-quarantine because of their interactions with Litzman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIn a sign of how the virus risks fueling regional tensions, Yehiya Sinwar, a\nleader of Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that rules the Gaza Strip,\nwarned Israel that it would respond with force in case of ventilator or food\nshortages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“If coronavirus patients in Gaza happen to stop breathing, we still stop 6\nmillion Zionists from breathing and we will take what we want by force,”\nhe said in a live address on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV.
\nPublic health officials have said that a coronavirus outbreak could devastate\nthe Gaza Strip, a crowded coastal territory reeling from conflict, poverty and\na 13-year Israeli-Egyptian blockade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nFor most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and\ncough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health\nproblems, it can cause severe symptoms like pneumonia that can be fatal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIn war-torn Syria, the government extended the closures of mosques until April\n16, nearly a week before the start of the holy month of Ramadan. It also\nexpanded curfew times over the weekend and indefinitely extended a ban on\nvisits to prisons, citing concerns over the spread of the virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nRights groups have called on governments across the Mideast to release\nthousands of political detainees held in crammed and unhygienic jails. In\ngovernment-controlled Syria, 16 cases of infection and two deaths were\nreported, although limited disease surveillance systems have bred concern that\nthe virus may be spreading further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAs a further containment measure, Syrian government announced it would isolate\nSayyida Zeinab, a southern suburb of the capital, Damascus, which houses one of\nthe holiest Shiite shrines. The heavily guarded site draws thousands of Iranian\nand Iraqi pilgrims and has been closed to visitors since March in precaution\nagainst the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe World Health Organization said it was increasing preparedness in the\nrebel-controlled, northwestern region of Syria, which is home to 4 million\npeople and extremely vulnerable to contagion. The war has destroyed or closed\nhalf of all health facilities, and hundreds of thousands of people who fled war\nand repeated government offensives have been crowded into displacement camps.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nMeanwhile, with countries closing borders to slow the spread of the virus, the\naviation industry’s largest trade association warned the pandemic is expected\nto wipe out $23 billion in passenger revenue from airlines across the Middle\nEast and Africa this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe International Air Transport Association said Mideast airlines will see a\n$19 billion drop in revenue this year, compared to 2019. Airlines in Africa,\nincluding EgyptAir, are expected to see a $4 billion drop. Hundreds of\nthousands of job in the aviation sector are also at risk across both regions.\n
\nSaudi Arabia’s revenue loss could exceed $5.6 billion this year, with\npilgrimage flights on hold in addition to commercial air traffic. The United\nArab Emirates, home to world’s busiest airport for international travel in\nDubai, is projected to lose $5.4 billion in revenue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nEgypt and Qatar could also see more than $1 billion each in revenue loss, while\nthe aviation sector in South Africa is expected to lose $2.3 billion in\npotential revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIATA said projections are based on assumptions that travel restrictions will continue\nthrough the second quarter of 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Voice of America<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"