Health

Saudi Arabia’s daily COVID-19 cases cross 3,500 for first time in over one year

Saudi Arabia recorded 3,575 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday, marking the first time the Kingdom saw over 3,500 infections in a single day since July 2020.

Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.
The gulf country saw nearly 5,000 cases in June 2020, marking its highest ever daily increase, according to worldometer tracker website.
While 572,225 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Saudi Arabia, a total of 544,978 have recovered. The death toll has reached 8,890 as of January 7 after two new coronavirus-related deaths were recorded.
Saudi Arabia has administered over 52 million vaccine doses as of January 7, according to the health ministry.

Saudi Arabia updated COVID-19 rules

Health authorities recently updated recovery periods for those who test positive for the virus. For vaccinated individuals, the recovery period has been reduced to seven days while the unvaccinated recovery period is 10 days.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior updated fines for those who do not follow precautionary measures. In a tweet posted on the ministry’s Twitter account, it was announced that those who do refuse a temperature check before entering public or private places, and don’t follow social distancing rules will receive a $266 (1,000 Saudi riyal) fine. In case of repeated offense, the fine can reach up to $266,000 (100,000 riyal).
Numbers have continued to increase in recent weeks after the first case of the omicron variant was detected in Saudi Arabia on December 1.

That case was traced to an unnamed north African country, according to the official SPA news agency.

Saudi Arabia recently reimposed social distancing measures at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, as well as in public places. Masks are now again required in both indoor and outdoor places.

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