Children walk in a park near Kucukcekmece Lake in Istanbul, Turkey, May 13, 2020. (Photo by Yasin Akgul/Xinhua)

--Turkey's COVID-19 cases rise to 143,114;

--Iran's tally of infections hits 112,725;

--Israel's coronavirus patients rise to 16,548;

--Tunisia has reported no new COVID-19 cases for three days in a row.

CAIRO, May 13 -- Turkey's COVID-19 cases on Wednesday exceeded 143,000, while the tally in Iran crossed 112,000.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, rose to 143,114, while the death toll surged to 3,952 on Wednesday.

Turkey on Wednesday confirmed 1,639 new COVID-19 cases and 58 more deaths in the past 24 hours, according to Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

The minister also said Turkey is getting ready to implement tests for foreign tourists as the country plans to resume its flights for tourism in late May. Turkey would make PCR tests, not rapid tests, for foreign tourists arriving in Turkey, he said.

Meanwhile, Turkey's tourism sector has been planning to resume operations in a controlled way in June under the anti-COVID-19 measures, Culture and Tourism Minister Nuri Ersoy was cited by local media as saying on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, children under 14 years old in Turkey were allowed outside for the first time in 40 days as part of the country's COVID-19 normalization plan.

In Turkey, those who are 20 years old and under have been under lockdown since April 4 as part of the government's measures against the pandemic.

Iran on Wednesday confirmed 1,958 new COVID-19 infection cases, taking the total cases to 112,725.