The Assistant Minister of Health and MOH spokesman, Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdulaali, stated that, during the past two weeks, we have noticed a rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases, but still under control, calling for abiding by the precautionary measures.
“The incidence curve is still low, however, we have monitored a rise in the last week, 29% more than the week before. We don’t want the curve to keep rising, therefore we have to adhere to precautionary measures. It is possible that a person could be infected with the virus after vaccination because immunity is not obtainable immediately after the injection”, he said.
Al-Abdulaali indicated that following the first dose, the body needs one to two weeks to develop immunity, and during one to two weeks after the second dose, it will reach a high level of immunity to resist the virus.
He said that 391,643 people have received the COVID-19 vaccine so far, affirming that the vaccine is the key and effective weapon that will make us healthy. He revealed that 186 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Kingdom; thus bringing the total number to 366,371 confirmed cases, including 2,080 active cases, receiving the necessary medical care. Of these, there are 331 critical cases, while the health condition of the rest is stable.
The MOH spokesman made this statement in the COVID-19 briefing held today (Sunday), which also hosted the Ministry of Interior (MOI) spokesman, Lt. Col. Talal Al-Shalhoub. Dr. Al-Abdulaali mentioned that 211 recoveries were reported, bringing the total number of recoveries to 357,939 to date. And 2 new deaths were reported, bringing the total deaths to 6,352.
The health services are still provided through all MOH’s facilities, with 6,591,669 Molecular Diagnostic Tests «Swab Tests» at Make Sure «Taakkad» Centers, 1,853,023 patients were served at Rest Assured «Tetamman» Clinics, in addition to offering medical consultations via 937-Service Center to 26,455,915 beneficiaries, he added. Moreover, 35,527 new Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 have been conducted, bringing the total tests to 12,010,171 in the Kingdom's laboratories.
For his part, Al-Shalhoub said, “We have achieved positive outcomes thanks to the wise leadership for supporting the preventive and health efforts and to the citizens and residents commitment to the precautionary measures to combat the pandemic, which still threatening the public health throughout the world”.
He said that in the past few days, the health authorities have announced a rise in new cases of COVID-19. He attributed this to the laxity by a few people in implementing the precautionary and preventive measures, as well as violating regulations to limit gatherings during the mid-year school holiday. It is in everyone’s interest to avoid any gatherings that do not comply with the necessary protocols, and to comply with the prevention measures including wearing a face mask, he added.
He called upon all individuals and entities to fully adhere to the approved health instructions in order to curb the spread of the virus, including wearing masks and avoiding gatherings, affirming that security men will monitor commitment to the measures and report any violations in residential neighborhoods, rest areas, villages, hamlets and other areas.
He explained that, over the period from Dec. 16th, 2020 to Jan. 13th, 2021, the number of violators amounted to 84,807, with 24,479 violations in Riyadh, 14,731 in Makkah, 9,673 in Qassim, 653 in Jazan, and 880 in Najran.
Over the last week, there were 18,033 violations of the preventive and precautionary measures, including family and non-family gatherings, wearing masks, and social distancing, he added.
Al-Shalhoub urged everyone to report any violations by calling 999 in all regions of the Kingdom and 911 in Makkah and Riyadh regions. He called upon all citizens and residents to continue with their adherence to the preventive measures to curb the spread of the virus and help in returning to normalcy.