By Tamara Abueish

DUBAI -- Qatar reported 951 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, raising the total number of cases in the country to 15,206, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.

The new cases are a significant jump from the 640 cases reported a day earlier, but the ministry had warned on Monday that cases could rise.

The upcoming period will witness a fluctuation in the number of daily reported cases, which will shift between high and low rates, the ministry said on Monday.

This is due to several reasons, the ministry added, including that the outbreak is reaching its peak stage before the number of infections will descend gradually.

So far, Qatar has reported 12 virus-related deaths.

Meanwhile, 114 people recovered from the coronavirus in the country in the past 24 hours, which brings the total number of recoveries to 1,924.

Qatar has ramped up its efforts to test people for the virus, and has conducted a total of 109,762 tests so far.

The ministry urged the public to adhere to preventative measures to protect themselves and others from the virus. -- Al Arabiya English