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.



UN Condemns Israeli Minister for Taunting Palestinian Prisoner

File photo of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti taken in May 2004. REUTERS - Reuters Photographer
File photo of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti taken in May 2004. REUTERS - Reuters Photographer
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UN Condemns Israeli Minister for Taunting Palestinian Prisoner

File photo of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti taken in May 2004. REUTERS - Reuters Photographer
File photo of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti taken in May 2004. REUTERS - Reuters Photographer

The UN's human rights office on Tuesday condemned a far-right Israeli minister for taunting a Palestinian prisoner in his cell and sharing the footage online.

National security minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a video on Friday last week showing him confronting Marwan Barghouti, the most high-profile Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody.

UN Human Rights Office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said the footage was unacceptable, adding: "The minister's behavior and the publication of the footage constitute an attack on Barghouti's dignity."

Barghouti, now in his sixties, was sentenced in 2004 to life in prison on murder charges, AFP reported.

Regarded as a terrorist by Israel, he often tops opinion polls of popular Palestinian leaders and is sometimes described by his supporters as the "Palestinian Mandela".

"International law requires that all those in detention be treated humanely, with dignity, and their human rights respected and protected," said Kheetan.

He warned that the minister's actions "may encourage violence against Palestinian detainees" and enable rights violations in Israeli prisons.