Health workers perform a nose swab test during a drive through coronavirus test campaign held in Diriyah hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 7, 2020. (AFP)

Health workers perform a nose swab test during a drive through coronavirus test campaign held in Diriyah hospital in Riyadh. (File photo: AFP)

Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia plans to double its testing program to 36,000 tests daily

Tamara Abueish, Al Arabiya English

Published: 17 May ,2020: 05:11 PM GST Updated: 20 May ,2020: 10:56 AM GST

1 min read

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health is planning to double its coronavirus testing program to conduct up to 36,000 COVID-19 tests daily, the spokesman Mohammed al-Abd al-Ali said on Sunday.

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The Kingdom currently conducts between 15,000 to 18,000 tests daily as part of its efforts to curb the outbreak, he added.

Only a month ago, the Kingdom was conducting around 5,000 and 6,000 tests per day, he said, adding that at the time it was a significant number compared to other countries.

Also read: Researchers in Saudi Arabia develop local coronavirus diagnostic test

Saudi Arabia has since tripled the amount of tests to ensure that cases are detected early and isolated to prevent them from spreading further, according to al-Abd al-Ali.

Health workers perform a nose swab test during a drive through coronavirus test campaign held in Diriyah hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh. (File photo: AFP)

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A total of 586,405 coronavirus tests have been conducted across the country so far, he said.

The Kingdom has reported 54,752 confirmed coronavirus cases and 312 deaths so far.

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