JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s curve-flattening policy is working as planned as daily new cases fall and recoveries increase — but it is not over just yet.
“The flattening of the curve is being achieved due to the adherence, on a community level, to the precautionary measures and safety protocols that the relevant authorities in the Kingdom have issued,” said Ministry of Health spokesman Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly in Sunday’s press conference.
However, he said the flattening of the curve does not mean the pandemic is over yet.
“In order to announce the end of the pandemic, the number of cases, on a global scale, must be confined and show a significant decrease. One of the ways to do that is find a vaccine or treatment and we’re still not there yet,” he added.
Saudi Arabia recorded 2,466 new recoveries on Sunday, bringing total recoveries to 266,953 since the beginning of the pandemic in early March.
In the Kingdom, 1,227 new cases were also recorded, bringing total cases to 298,542.
The fatality rate remains high after 39 new deaths were announced on Sunday, raising the death toll to 3,408.
There are currently 28,181 active cases, 1,774 of which are in critical care units.
As part of the Kingdom’s efforts to detect the disease in its early stages, 60,016 new polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were conducted in the past 24 hours. There have been over 4.2 million tests since the pandemic began.
FASTFACTS
• Saudi Arabia recorded 2,466 new recoveries on Sunday.
• 1,227 new cases were also recorded, bringing total cases to 298,542.
A decision to resume student studies remotely for seven weeks in the Kingdom has been made after coordination between relevant authorities.
Ibtesam Al-Shehri, Ministry of Education spokeswoman for public education, said in Sunday’s Ministry of Health press conference that the move came after international frameworks for reopening schools were examined and a spike in COVID-19 cases among school children was detected.
The spokeswoman said that teachers are obligated to work from schools at least once a week, after coordinating with school administrations for performance records, among other tasks.
“The decision to divide the school day into two periods is to help parents follow up with their children’s school work, ease the financial burdens on families to secure devices for their children studying in different levels as well as ease the pressure on internet services,” said Al-Shehri.
“There are over 6 million students studying at different levels in the Kingdom and over 520,000 educators, this will add immense pressure on the internet if they all sign in.”
The National Center for Educational and Professional Development will help teachers and staff at schools to use tools provided on the Ministry of Education’s platform, Vschool.sa, next Sunday.
The distribution of school books will be coordinated between schools and parents, where the latter will be given designated time slots through text message to pick up books.
