File picture: Buildings are seen from across the water in Doha. Image Credit: Reuters

Dubai: Health authorities in Qatar has confirmed on Friday another 761 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 138 cases from yesterday’s tally, according to Qatar News Agency.

This pushes the total number of positive coronavirus cases in Qatar to 8,525 and the active cases under treatment to 7,706. So far, 10 people have died from the coronavirus in Qatar, the Ministry of Public Health said in Friday’s statement.

It revealed that more than 2,431 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in last 24 hours, taking the total tests done so far to 75,888 tests.

The ministry also reported the recovery of 59 cases, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 809.

Most of the new cases are expatriate workers who have been quarantined, after it was found they were in contact with confirmed cases.

The ministry stated that the recent increase in the number of confirmed new cases of coronavirus is due to several reasons, including that the spread of the virus has begun to enter the peak stage (i.e. the highest wave that affects the country), which may continue to increase for a period of time before it begins to decline.

It is also due to the increase in the efforts of the ministry and its medical teams to track the transmission chains of coronavirus and expand the surveillance process, including groups of contacts with people who were previously diagnosed with the disease. All of this has contributed to the early detection of many cases of infection and reduced the spread of the virus.