Manama: A Bahraini woman has died from the novel coronavirus, the health ministry announced on Monday, marking the first death from the disease among Gulf Co-operation Council states.

The 65-year-old woman had pre-existing medical conditions, the ministry said on Twitter. Nearly 1,000 cases of the virus have been recorded so far across the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Most of those infected have been people returning from Iran, where more than 700 people had died in the outbreak by Sunday.

Facing a mounting public health threat, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have taken drastic measures to combat the pandemic.

The Gulf countries have shut down cinemas and other entertainment centres -- some even closing gyms and spas. Kuwait has taken the strictest measures in the GCC by largely locking down the country over the weekend. 

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Bengaluru (PTI): Five persons were arrested for allegedly trafficking the banned narcotic substance MDMA and ganja in different parts of the city, police said on Tuesday.

Police said they seized 3.912 kg of ganja, 343 grams of MDMA and 170 grams of other narcotic substances, along with a goods vehicle and a mobile phone, totaling worth Rs 5.77 cr.

The Narcotics Wing of the Central Crime Branch, along with local police, carried out the operation here recently, police said.

The arrests were made on different dates following raids based on credible inputs.

According to police, ganja was being transported near Nayandahalli signal on Mysuru Road. The MDMA and ganja were stored and sold from a lodge in R K Puram and Channasandra Main Road.

Cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, police said.

During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to procuring the drugs at lower prices from an unidentified foreign national and other sources within the state, and selling them to the public, including college students, for profit, a senior police officer said.

Efforts are on to trace the suppliers, police said.

The accused have been remanded to judicial custody, and further investigation is underway, they added.