On Friday morning, the COVID-19 Monitoring Committee held its 79th 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. Meanwhile, the Committee commended the citizens’ compliance with the curfew, and called on them to stay home, and refrain from going unless necessary.
Following the meeting, Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdulaali, MOH spokesman mentioned that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has jumped to 3,862,174 cases, of which 1,291,940 cases have recovered to date. As for the COVID-19 death toll, it has jumped to 269,881.
Besides, 1,701 new confirmed cases were reported in the Kingdom, distributed as follows: 373 in Jeddah, 308 in Madinah, 246 in Makkah, 142 in Riyadh, 130 in Dammam, 122 in Jubail, 75 in Bish, 68 in Al-Hafouf, 106 in Taif, 10 in Diriyah, 8 in Tabuk, 7 in Al-Qunfudah, 6 in Wadi Al-Fare, 4 in Al-Zulfi, 3 in Safwa, 3 in Buraidah, 3 in Adham, 3 in Al-Kharj, 2 in Al-Jafr, 2 in Abqaiq, 2 in Mahd Al-Dhahab, 2 in Sabia, and 1 case in Khamis Mushayt, Al-Qatif, Dhahran, Al-Nairyah, Alays, Tahtleeth, Al-Laith, Baljurashi, Al-Mikhwa, Dhiba, Umluj, Hafr Al-Batin, Thurayban, Arar, Wadi ad-Dawasir, Thadig and Dawadmi.
Of the 1,701 cases reported today, 382 are Saudi, accounting for 22% and 1,319 non-Saudi or 78%, he said adding that 229 of the cases are female or 13% and 1,472 are male or 87% and 3% are old people, 4% children and 93% adults. And the number of the new recoveries has amounted to 1,322, bringing the total recoveries to 9,120, and the number of new deaths has amounted to 10, bringing the total deaths to 229, one for 56 years old Saudi in Jeddah and 9 cases non-Saudi aged 25-59 years in Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh and Jeddah. They mostly suffered from chronic diseases.
Underlining the importance of the expanded test, Al-Abdulaali said that the countries which launched this test have recorded few number of infections and become more capable of combating the spread of the virus. The Kingdom will continue with this type of test in order to reach out to infected cases early, he stressed.
According to WHO the virus still existing, therefore we have to shoulder our responsibilities and continue abiding by the instructions and precautionary measures, most notably: avoiding gathering, staying at home, refraining from going unless necessary, as well as following healthy behaviors such as washing hands frequently, and not touching surfaces, he said.
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.