CAIRO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Tuesday reported 11,837 new COVID-19 cases, as its daily infections exceeded 10,000 for the first time in about two months. Meanwhile, Iraq received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated by China.

The previous time when the daily COVID-19 infections exceeded 10,000 in Turkey was Jan. 8 when a total of 11,479 cases were reported.

The total number of positive cases in Turkey surged to 2,723,316, while the death toll rose by 68 to 28,706. The tally of recoveries in Turkey climbed to 2,586,073, with the addition of 7,892 more recovered cases.

Iraqi Minster of Health Hassan al-Tamimi announced in a press release that Iraq received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government on Tuesday, as the vaccination process started with the frontline health workers.

Iraq's Ministry of Health reported 4,690 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily record in 2021, bringing the total nationwide infections to 703,778.

It also confirmed 30 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,458, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 3,517 to 643,156.

Iran reported 8,495 daily COVID-19 cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,648,174.

The pandemic has so far claimed 60,267 lives in Iran, up by 86 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

A total of 1,406,845 people have recovered from the disease in Iran, while 3,738 remain in intensive care units, she added.

Israel's Ministry of Health reported 4,738 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total infections in the country to 784,696.

The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 5,786 after 26 new fatalities were added, while the total recoveries soared by 2,593 to 738,443.

The Ben Gurion University (BGU) in southern Israel said that Israeli scientists have developed a rapid cost-effective test that can identify two of the mutated COVID-19 strains.

The new test, based on the gene deletion that differentiates the variants from the original COVID-19 strain, reduces the time needed to detect the infection with a variant from days to hours, the BGU said.

Jordan recorded 5,124 COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths, taking its caseload to 402,282 and death toll to 4,756.

The Jordanian government also reported 2,887 new recoveries, raising its tally to 354,143, while there are currently 43,383 active COVID-19 cases in the kingdom.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported 2,721 new coronavirus infections and 15 more deaths, raising its tally of confirmed cases to 396,771 and its total fatalities to 1,253. The total recoveries in the UAE climbed by 1,666 to 383,998.

Lebanon registered on Tuesday 3,098 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections to 380,019, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The ministry also reported 62 new coronavirus deaths, pushing its death toll up to 4,805, while the tally of recoveries reached 296,237.

Firas Abiad, director of Rafic Hariri University Hospital, said on Tuesday that Lebanon needs to vaccinate 30,000 people per day to reach herd immunity target in one year.

Kuwait reported 1,341 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 193,372.

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced seven more deaths, taking the death toll to 1,092. The tally of recoveries in Kuwait rose by 964 to 181,119.

In Qatar, the health ministry announced 463 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 164,600.

Qatar's overall recoveries climbed by 259 to 154,420, while the coronavirus death toll remained at 259 for the second consecutive day, according to a ministry statement.

The Omani health ministry confirmed 361 new COVID-19 infections and three more deaths, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 142,169 and its death toll to 1,580.

The tally of recoveries from the disease climbed by 260 to 132,945 in Oman, the ministry said in a statement.