JEDDAH: Saudi authorities are intensifying their field inspection tours to check for COVID-19 violations following the reopening of commercial establishments, with people being reminded about the importance of sticking to health and safety protocols.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Cl. Talal Al-Shalhoub said on Sunday that special forces from the ministry and other relevant authorities, in cooperation with the private sector, had increased their inspection campaigns across all regions to maintain order and monitor violations by establishments and individuals.
There were 41,590 violations reported in the past week by field inspectors. These varied from not adhering to social distancing measures, to overcrowding and not wearing face masks.
The highest number of violations was in the Riyadh region with 17,321 breaches, while Jazan had the lowest number of violations with just 191.
“Though the number of confirmed (COVID-19) cases has been fluctuating in the past few weeks, this could be an indicator that they might be stabilizing,” Ministry of Health spokesman Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly told the same press conference. “This does not mean we can be careless, these could be the result of the restrictions enforced over the last month.”

The number of critical care patients continues to rise. There are 505 cases in intensive care units, as reported by the Ministry of Health on Sunday, an increase of 11 in the past 24 hours.
There were also 357 new cases reported, raising the Kingdom’s total number of COVID-19 infections to 379,831.
There are currently 2,689 active COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia and 370,614 people who have recovered from COVID-19, following 314 new recoveries in the past 24 hours.
Saudi Arabia reported four further deaths, bringing the death toll to 6,528.
More than 1.33 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to people in the Kingdom.