JEDDAH: Saudi health officials have again voiced their concern at the continuing rise in virus cases in the Kingdom, blaming the spike on public failure to follow safety measures in recent weeks.
Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly said that most of the Kingdom’s regions have had a “concerning” rise in infections in the past month.
“We reiterate the importance of adhering to precautionary measures,” he said.
#الصحة تعلن عن تسجيل (353) حالة إصابة جديدة بفيروس كورونا (كوفيد-19)، وتسجيل (4) حالات وفيات رحمهم الله، وتسجيل (249) حالة تعافي ليصبح إجمالي عدد الحالات المتعافية (362,062) حالة ولله الحمد. pic.twitter.com/fNrOauzPwr
— و ز ا ر ة ا لـ صـ حـ ة السعودية (@SaudiMOH) February 9, 2021
Al-Aly’s warning follows a more than fourfold increase in daily coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases from 82 in early January to 353 on Tuesday.
The latest figure raises the Kingdom’s total to 370,987. The Riyadh region had the highest count with 168 cases, followed by Eastern Province with 66 and Makkah with 38. There are currently 2,515 active cases.
Critical cases are also on the rise. The number of patients in ICUs has increased by 41 percent since January. A total of 26 patients were admitted to ICU in the past 24 hours, raising the number to 427.
The 249 newly recovered cases raised the total number to 362,062. The Kingdom’s recovery rate has slightly decreased to 97.59 percent.
FASTFACTS
• Saudi Arabia reported 353 new infections on Tuesday.
• There are currently 2,515 active cases.
• The Kingdom’s recovery rate has slightly decreased to 97.59 percent.
• Four new fatalities due to coronavirus complications raised the death toll to 6,410.
Four new fatalities due to coronavirus complications raised the total death toll to 6,410.
A total of 443,805 people have been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine so far.
Over 12.7 million PCR tests have been conducted in the Kingdom, including 53,039 in the past 24 hours.
More than 84,000 field inspections were conducted across the Kingdom between Feb. 2-8 to monitor and report precautionary violations by establishments, according to Dr. Ahmed Qattan, the deputy minister of municipal, rural affairs and housing for contractor classification.
He said that more than 13,000 violations were reported and 3,000 establishments shut down.
Violations included allowing employees and/or visitors to enter without protective masks, and failing to carry out temperature checks.
More than 34,000 field inspections were conducted in labor housing for 1.7 million workers. Labor housing units have more than 17,900 isolation rooms for suspected cases.
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