Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia recorded 1,147 new cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 11,631, a health ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

The Kingdom has seen a steady increase in cases over the past few days following a spike as the result of increased field testing.

A whopping 76 percent of the newly recorded cases were discovered through the Kingdom’s efforts in field testing, Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali was quoted by Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as telling a regular press briefing here.

He said 150 medical teams are visiting neighborhoods throughout the country to screen people in their homes. Over 500,000 people have been screened so far.

The spokesman also announced five new coronavirus deaths, bringing the death toll 109. There are currently 9,882 active cases in Saudi Arabia. A total of 1,640 people have recovered so far.

Makkah recorded the highest number of cases (305), followed closely by 299 in Madinah, 171 in Jeddah, 148 in Riyadh, and 138 in Hufuf. There were 27 new cases in Taif, 12 in Jubail, 10 in Tabuk, eight in Khulais, six in Buraidah, five in Dammam, three in Al-Makhwa, two each in Unaizah, Al-Hada, Dhahran and Ar'ar, one each in Mahayel, Al-Jouf, Qunfudah, Qurayyat, Sabt Al-Alaya, Al-Quraie and Baha.

Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah has recently warned that the number of cases in the Kingdom could reach up to 200,000 within weeks, based on four different studies conducted by Saudi and foreign experts. His lower estimate was 10,000.