GCC Health Ministers Discuss Efforts to Combat COVID-19

A lab technician working on coronavirus test samples
A lab technician working on coronavirus test samples
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GCC Health Ministers Discuss Efforts to Combat COVID-19

A lab technician working on coronavirus test samples
A lab technician working on coronavirus test samples

The sixth meeting of the GCC Health Ministers Committee has discussed a number of important issues, including efforts by the health sector to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The meeting reviewed the GCC Supreme Council's decisions on health, including the concluding statement, the Riyadh Declaration at the conclusion of the 40th summit of the Council, and follow-up of the implementation of its decisions on health.

It further discussed the Committee's Plan of Action, the follow-up to the implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005).

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday that 474 more patients had recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 336,068.

In addition, it said that 59,317 new PCR tests had been conducted in the past 24 hours across the country.

There were 450 new confirmed cases, meaning 349,386 people have now contracted the COVID-19 disease. There are 7,829 active cases, 763 of them in critical condition.

Oman

The Ministry of Health registered 320 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths.

The total cases in the country have now touched 117,167 including 107,368 recoveries, according to the ministry.

Kuwait

Kuwait recorded 795 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 129,638, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.

Bahrain

Bahrain's Health Ministry reported 261 new cases, along with 249 recoveries.

Four new deaths were recorded. The death toll stands at 328.

Qatar

In Qatar, the Health Ministry recorded 227 cases, in addition to the recovery of 212 patients.



Egyptian Source Denies Madleen Had Entered its Regional Waters 

A picture shows the aid sailboat Madleen approaching the southern port of Ashdod after being intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AFP)
A picture shows the aid sailboat Madleen approaching the southern port of Ashdod after being intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AFP)
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Egyptian Source Denies Madleen Had Entered its Regional Waters 

A picture shows the aid sailboat Madleen approaching the southern port of Ashdod after being intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AFP)
A picture shows the aid sailboat Madleen approaching the southern port of Ashdod after being intercepted by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AFP)

An Egyptian source denied on Monday claims that the Madleen Gaza-bound aid boat had sailed through Egyptian regional waters before heading to Israel.

The activist group on board the vessel departed Italy on June 1 carrying food and supplies for Gaza, whose entire population the UN has warned is at risk of famine.

Israeli forces intercepted the boat in international waters on Monday and towed it to the port of Ashdod.

The Egyptian source said the vessel had not approached the country’s regional waters, "otherwise it would have come under the protection of the Egyptian navy and awaited a decision by the country’s authorities over what to do with it."

The authorities were not contacted by anyone onboard the Madleen, it stressed.

The regional waters are protected by the military and entering them demands permission and coordination, "and this did not happen," it explained.

Moreover, Egyptian forces cannot allow the entry of the forces of another country into its waters, it added.

Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and other activists detained aboard the Madleen have been taken to a Tel Aviv airport for deportation, Israel said Tuesday, after their vessel was intercepted by naval forces.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the activist group operating the vessel, said all 12 campaigners were "being processed and transferred into the custody of Israeli authorities".