Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh leads new COVID-19 cases, 2,779 more in Kingdom

Saudi Arabia detected 2,779 new coronavirus cases and 42 COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the Kingdom to 232,259 and the virus-related death toll to 2,223, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday.

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The capital Riyadh recorded the highest number of daily cases with 247 new infections. Jeddah detected 191 new cases, Al Hufof detected 162, and Dammam detected 157.

The other infections were reported in cities and provinces across the country.

Meanwhile, 1,742 people recovered from the coronavirus, which raises the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 167,138.

Half of the critical cases being treated in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in Saudi Arabia are of people above the age of 60, the health ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Abd al-Ali said.

People between the ages of 40 to 60 make up a third of those in the ICUs, he added.

When asked if it was safe for people to hold gatherings, the spokesman said that it was safe as long as everyone followed precautionary measures, such as refraining from shaking hands, keeping a safe distance between one another, and limiting gatherings to a maximum of 50 people.

He urged the public to follow preventative measures to ease the return to normalcy.

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