The World Health Organization said that Middle East governments need to move quickly to reduce the spread of the Corona virus after the cases have risen to about 60,000, nearly twice the level of a week ago.
"New cases have been registered in some of the most endangered countries that have weak health systems," said Dr. Ahmed Al-Manzari, WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, a region that includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Djibouti, as well as Middle Eastern countries.
"Even in countries with stronger health systems, we have seen a worrying increase in the numbers of registered cases and deaths," he added in a statement.
With the exception of Iran, which reported just over 50,000 cases, confirmed cases of coronavirus were relatively small in the Middle East compared to Europe, the United States and Asia.
But health officials fear that the actual number of cases is higher than that recorded and that many countries with weak governments and poor health systems due to conflict find it difficult to contain the crisis.
"I cannot stress enough the gravity of the situation ... the increase in the number of cases shows that the transition is occurring quickly at the local and community levels," Al-Manzari said.
"We still have an open window in front of us, but this window is narrowing day by day."
The WHO said that the total number of cases in the region increased to 58,168 from 32,422 cases on March 26, on a day when the global number exceeded the million mark.