JEDDAH: Saudi authorities have urged people to remain on high alert and continue following precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The Interior Ministry said Sunday that restrictions would be extended for another 20 days following a doubling of case numbers in recent weeks and, at the same press conference, Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly stressed the importance of using a ministry-approved app, Tabaud, so people could find out if they had been in close proximity with infected people.
Four apps were developed last year to combat the spread of COVID-19: Tawakkalna, Sehhaty, Tetamman, and Tabaud.
Tabaud tracks the spread of COVID-19 infections, allowing registered users to know if they have been in contact with people who have tested positive within the past 14 days.
“The application does not require internet usage, only the enablement of Bluetooth. The device will notify users without exposing users’ data to each other,” said Al-Abd Al-Aly. “Users will receive a message that they have come into contact with an infected user.”
The spokesman answered a number of frequently asked questions. One was about people’s need to quarantine for 14 days even if they tested negative after coming into contact with someone positive.
“We want to eliminate the chance of spread in its incubation period,” he explained.
FASTFACTS
372,732 Total cases
363,585 Recoveries
6,433 Deaths
The spokesman said that new batches of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine had arrived in the Kingdom, and he told people to book appointments for their second dose as soon as registration for it opened in a few days.
He also said that people who needed to register for the vaccine and receive their first dose would be allowed to do so starting Feb. 18, adding that priority would go to those in high-risk groups.
“This will quickly bring the National Immunization Schedule back on track in all regions of the Kingdom.”
There have been 446,940 vaccine doses given out so far.
Al-Abd Al-Aly said Saudi Arabia was expecting a shipment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the coming weeks after receiving the proper approval and clearance.
Lt. Cl. Talal Al-Shalhoub, an Interior Ministry spokesman, told the press conference there had been 47,335 COVID-19 violations between Feb. 8-13.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday recorded 322 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 372,732.
There are 2,714 active cases, with 459 in critical condition.
There were a further 282 recoveries, taking the total to 363,585. Four more deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 6,433.
keywords
