On Sunday morning, the COVID-19 Monitoring Committee held its 53th meeting. Chaired by the Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, the meeting was attended by the committee members, who represent the relevant government agencies. During the meeting, all relevant COVID-19 updates and reports were reviewed.
The committee has discussed the global epidemiological situation, as well as the cases reported locally and their health condition. All precautionary measures carried out at the points of entry into the Kingdom will continue in full, the Committee stressed, and will be further tightened. The Committee commended the citizens’ compliance with the curfew, and called on them to stay home, and refrain from going unless extremely necessary (during the hours when going out is permissible).
The meeting was followed by a joint press conference, the participants in which included Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdulaali, MOH spokesman and Lt. Colonel Talal Al-Shalhoub, Ministry of Interior spokesman.
The MOH spokesman mentioned that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has amounted to over 1,800,000 cases, of which 409,000 cases have recovered to date. As for the COVID-19 death toll, it has jumped to 109,000 deaths.
“429 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the Kingdom,” said Al-Abdulaali. He mentioned that the new cases were recorded in the following cities: 198 in Riyadh, 103 in Makkah, 73 in Madinah, 19 in Jeddah, 10 in Dammam, 7 in Yanbu, 5 in Khamis Muashayt, 4 in Samtah, 3 in Tabuk, 3 in Al-Khatif, 2 in Taif and 2 in Sabia. This brings the total cases tested positive for COVID-19 in the Kingdom up to 4,462 cases, of whom 3,642 cases are active cases, receiving medical care, and their health condition is mostly stable; with the exception of 65 cases receiving intensive care. The number of new recoveries is 41, bringing the total recoveries to 761 cases. And the number of new deaths is 5, who are residents in Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah, between 38-63 years of age, and most of them had chronic diseases.
Ever since the first confirmed cases was recorded in the Kingdom, the number of cases hosted and served by MOH in home-isolation or quarantine (whether at hospitals or their homes) has reached 40,000 cases, said Dr. Al-Abdulaali. And the number of cases currently receiving health services at specialized quarantines amounted to more than 7,000 cases, including around 2,000 citizens coming from abroad in implementation of the official directives to repatriate them.
He stressed that most of the cases who received healthcare services at the quarantines were in good health and 95% of them were tested negative and rejoined community. As per the confirmatory testing for COVID-19 virus, 5% of the quarantined cases were tested positive. He described such outcomes as proactive and preventive measures benefited all and reassured them about their conditions after being distanced from their community particularly from their loved ones. The isolation is effective in breaking the chain of infection transmission and protecting the whole community from the outbreaks.
Underlining the importance of these preventive measures, he commended everyone’s commitment and concern for the health of others and the health of those around them while in quarantine. He confirmed that MOH is keen to keep the health services in the quarantine at the highest levels to meet the satisfaction of all. He revealed that MOH provides e-services through the new application ‘Tatammen’ (Rest Assured), which is accessible to all those in quarantine. Users of this app will be able to daily assess their health condition, receive advice and send requests to the medical staff, 24/7. They can also evaluate the provided services and get acquainted with educational and awareness materials and other services. He reiterated MOH’s keenness to continue providing the highest level of health services and support while in quarantine.
The MOH spokesman reiterated that anyone who develops symptoms, or is willing to get medical advice, can use the self-assessment application ‘Mawid’, or call 937 which works around the clock.
For his part, Lt. Col. Talal Al-Shalhoub, MOI spokesman highlighted the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ order approving the extension of curfew until further notice, and confirmed that the security authorities and the supporting military forces will continue implementing their duties and enforcing the precautionary measures to prevent movement in cities and provinces and between regions during the specified times.
Al-Shalhoub underlined the importance of reviewing and identifying the numbers of those working in the vital sectors and those working in the activities exempted from curfew. In this regard, the MOI has initiated updates to forms of movement permits during the curfew and approved a unified form for each government agency to issue permits for its employees and other private sector employees working for it while the competent authority in the ministry would stamp these permits.
With regard to the employees, who are moving by buses, a driver is allowed to have a permit, which includes the specified number of passengers, not to exceed (50%) of the passenger load, number of the plate, route of movement, working days and times in addition to adhering to the necessary health requirements for the passengers, he said. Al-SHalhoub added that Riyadh city would be the first city in which these new measures would be applied. These new measures start from tomorrow, Monday 20/8/1441H corresponding to April 13th, 2020. He stressed that any violator would be fined SR10, 000, the second offense will be doubled and the third offense imprisonment not exceeding 20 days.
He mentioned that the security authorities have seized a number of curfew violators and cybercrime law violators and regular measures have been taken against them. He stressed that such behaviors are individual actions not reflecting the level of public awareness shown by citizens and residents and their commitment to the precautionary measures to contain the Coronavirus pandemic.
He urged all not to go out unless extremely necessary and to use “Absher” platform and delivery applications.
Regarding permits for livestock owners, he said the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has launched a platform through which the owners can fill out a request for permit electronically, with the approval of region police.
On the gatherings being observed inside a number of residential neighborhoods, he stressed that all the gatherings inside and outside the neighborhoods are monitored and dealt with in a timely manner.
He reiterated the importance of getting information from the authentic sources, including MOI’s pages on Snap chat, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, as well as the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) or security sector’s authenticated accounts.
He pointed out that, during the 24-hour curfew imposed in a number of the Kingdom’s cities, citizens and residents are allowed to leave their homes from 06:00 am to 03:00 pm only for essential needs in the vicinity of the neighborhood, while emphasizing the importance of using the delivery apps to prevent the transmission of infection. However, security men will verify if leaving home is essential or not, and violators of curfew will be penalized.