By Hussein Hazzazi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Ministry of Health is preparing to launch within days expanded testing in Jeddah to assess the rate of the spread of the coronavirus infection in the city as it is continuing to take precautionary and preventive measures to curb the proliferation of the virus, with an aim to protect the health and safety of the citizens and residents, Okaz has learned.

The testing will be carried out at drive-through specialized stations set up at Jeddah Corniche with motorists seated in their vehicles.

It is noteworthy that implementation of the expanded testing is already underway as the Ministry of Health’s field teams are conducting coronavirus swab tests in the densely populated neighborhoods and labor housing compounds in the cities that have contributed to a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, but it has helped contain the outbreak in an effective manner.

The Ministry of Health is carrying out intensive active swab testing as a proactive precaution and it is one among several measures to counter the global pandemic, with an aim to make an early discovery of cases that have contracted the infection and provide them with the appropriate medical care.