Saudi: Mass testing reveals 400 new COVID-19 cases
Mass testing for COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia has revealed 400 new cases in the country, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health said.
The ministry has been carrying out field trips to ensure control over the spread of the virus.
“These efforts contributed to the discovery of 50 percent of yesterday’s cases (almost 400 cases), and are expected to increase the number of identified cases in upcoming days,” said the ministry’s spokesman, Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly.
The medical team’s field trips took place in overpopulated areas, workers’ housing units and places where previous cases had been uncovered in order to cease transmission.
Health Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said neighborhood surveys had started accessing people in their homes even if they were not showing symptoms. He explained that the ministry had also expanded the detection “from the car” to accelerate the process.
“This was reflected in the increase in the number of infections that don’t require hospitalization and our ability to contain (the situation) early,” said Al-Rabiah.
A total of 762 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the Kingdom on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 7,142. There are now 6,006 active cases, 74 of which are critical.
Al-Aly announced 59 new recoveries, taking the total number of these to 1,049, while four new deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 87. The latest deaths were expats between the ages of 41 and 82. Two were in Jeddah, one in Makkah and one in Tabuk.
