Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia confirmed a steady increase of 1,362 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, raising the total to 25,459, a health ministry spokesman said on Saturday.

He also confirmed seven additional deaths, raising the relatively low death toll to 176. Meanwhile, 210 people have recently recovered from the virus in the Kingdom taking the total to 3,765, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the ministry spokesman Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali as saying.

Madinah topped the list on Saturday with 249 cases, followed closely by Jeddah with 245 and Makkah with 244 cases. Riyadh recorded 161 new infections, there were 126 cases in Dammam, 81 in Al-Khobar, 80 in Jubail, 64 in Hufof, 21 in Khamis Mushayt, 19 in Diriyah, 16 in Buraidah and 13 in Taif.

Additionally, there were nine cases in Ras Tanura, six in Kharj, five in Baish, four in Baqeeq, three each in Nairyah snd Baljuraishi; two each in Bisha, Dhahran, Al-Mjaridah and Qunfudah; and one ech in Arar, Al-Darb, Mahayel, Trubah and Al-Mitnab.

As the number of confirmed cases in the Kingdom continues to rise, an increasing number of patients are also recovering, and the death toll remains relatively low. Less than one percent of those who contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia have passed away, while 3,765, about 15 percent of the country’s coronavirus patients, have recovered so far.

Saudi Arabia began field testing in recent weeks in order to expand its testing capacity. Medical teams have so far made 1,800 visits to various neighborhoods throughout the Kingdom to test people in their homes, with a focus on densely populated labor residential areas. A spokesman said on Friday that 170,000 labor workers have been tested so far.

Most confirmed coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia are of people living in densely populated residential areas, especially neighborhoods that house laborers, according to the health ministry.

A committee for organizing labor housing in the Kingdom has taken several measures to reduce the spread of the virus in these densely populated areas. The Kingdom has provided 2,000 alternative residential sites that consist of 170,000 rooms which can house 350,000 workers.