Coronavirus: Oman announces 128 new cases, a major increase bringing total to 727

Oman announced a significant increase in coronavirus cases on Monday, with 128 new cases taking the total in the country from 599 to 727, according to the Omani Ministry of Health via Twitter.

There have been a total of four deaths from coronavirus in the sultanate, added the statement, which is no change from the previous day.

The ministry also confirmed 15 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 124.

Read more:

Coronavirus: UAE could flatten curve in 2-3 weeks, says COVID-19 health official

Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia to conduct clinical trial of COVID-19 treatment

Coronavirus: Developing nations face choice between infection and starvation

A jump in cases

The 128 new cases is a significant jump in the number of new cases reported per day in Oman.

The day before, the ministry reported only 53 new cases, a number in line broadly in line with the 62 reported on Saturday.

Oman's trajectory of cases has been slightly behind most of its neighbors in the Arabian Gulf, which generally experienced a relatively steep rise in cases in the first week of April. The rise in numbers could reflect its trajectory catching up, but may also reflect an increase in testing as with the UAE.

While the UAE has far more cases than Oman, with 4,123 cases, and 680 recoveries, the increase in cases being discovered partly reflects an increase in the number of tests being carried out, according to Dr. Adil Sajwani, a family medicine doctor in the Ministry of Health and Prevention and a member of the national awareness team for COVID-19 in the UAE.

Saudi Arabia has the highest number of cases in the Arabian Gulf, with a total of 4,262 cases as of Sunday.

Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.