Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia total cases over 50,000, sees jump in daily count

Saudi Arabia saw a jump in its daily coronavirus cases with 2,840 new infections detected over the past 24 hours, raising the total to 51,980 on Saturday, according to a health ministry spokesman.

Despite a higher number of daily cases, compared to the previous 1,500 daily average, recovery numbers have been increasing as well. An additional 1,797 individuals have recovered, raising the total to 23,666, close to half the number of total infections.

Spokesman Dr. Mohammed al-Abd al-Ali also announced 10 new fatalities as a result of complications, raising the relatively low death toll to 302. However, the Kingdom has maintained a lower death rate of about 0.6 percent compared to the global rate of about 7 percent.

The newly detected cases were confirmed after an additional 18,285 tests were administered. Saudi Arabia has so far conducted 570,360 screenings throughout the country, the spokesman said.

The ministry continues to urge people to only go out when absolutely necessary and to avoid crowds in order to not contract or spread the virus.

In its latest efforts to slow the spread of the virus, Saudi Arabia announced last week that it will impose a 24-hour lockdown for the Muslim Eid holiday that marks the end of Ramadan next week.

The Kingdom recorded its first coronavirus cases on March 2, after a Saudi Arabian national returned from Iran.

Saudi Arabia’s Health Minister Dr. Tawfig al-Rabiah warned last month that the number of cases in the Kingdom could reach up to 200,000, based on four different studies conducted by Saudi and foreign experts.

Al Arabiya English