Positive outlook for Kingdom as virus numbers decline

Saudi Arabia’s daily rate of new COVID-19 cases has seen a significant decline in the past 10 days, with health experts relating the fall to continued public adherence to guidelines and an increase in vaccine rates.

The Ministry of Health reported 546 new cases on Wednesday, raising the total number since the start of the pandemic to 540,244.

Riyadh, with 159 cases, was the only region to report more than 100 new cases in the 24 hours preceding Wednesday’s announcement. Makkah reported 88 and the Eastern Province 56. All other regions reported numbers below 50, with Baha reporting only nine. There were 794 recoveries reported overall, raising the total number to 525,559. The Kingdom’s recovery rate is holding steady at 97.2 percent.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the Kingdom has declined to 6,246 — 1,273 of which are critical, a decline of 22 in the past 24 hours. Eight new deaths due to complications from COVID-19 raised the Kingdom’s death tally to 8,439.

In the past 24 hours, 72,968 new PCR tests have been conducted, raising the total number of tests to more than 26.6 million. More than 32.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been provided so far — a rate of 94.2 per 100 people. Health experts have said that the Kingdom could reach herd immunity within the next two months with continued public adherence to guidelines and the expected increase in the number of people who have received both doses. So far, 33.6 percent of the Kingdom’s 34.8 million inhabitants have had both doses.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance reopened three mosques on Wednesday after temporarily closing them due to confirmed COVID-19 infections. A total of 2,010 mosques have been reopened and readied for worshippers over the past 193 days.