Qatar has recorded 1,733 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily toll yet, raising the total to 26,882, the health ministry announced on Thursday.
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The country has maintained a low death toll with 14 fatalities to date with a higher recovery total of 3,356 after 213 additional people recovered over the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Qatar tested 4,811 people recently raising the total number of tests administered to 143,938, according to the health ministry.
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Qatar has the second highest total number of cases in the GCC despite having one of the smallest populations among the Gulf countries. With its population of only 2.78 million people, Qatar has more than half of the number of cases as Saudi Arabia, which has 33.7 million people.
The first case in the country was confirmed on February 27, but the number of cases began to rise more steeply from mid-March onwards, beginning with the announcement of 238 new cases in a single day on March 11.
Many of the cases are believed to be within crowded labor camps for migrant workers, according to media reports. As well as implementing standard restrictions on contact including closing shops and stopping Friday Prayers, Qatar has also locked down the “Industrial Area” where many migrant workers are confined.
Al Arabiya English's Tommy Hilton contributed to this report.
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