Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia Reports 2,840 new Cases, 10 Deaths

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia reported 2,840 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, raising the total to 51,980, according to a health ministry spokesman.

Despite the high number of cases, recovery numbers have been increasing as well. An additional 1,797 inpiduals 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. 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.

Saudi Arabia recently banned gatherings and groups of more than five people under new regulations to slow the spread of the virus. Gatherings that include more than one family and inpiduals who are not members of the same family are not allowed.

Globally, it is worth mentioning that, more cases of the virus, which causes respiratory disease coronavirus,  continue to emerge, with outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

People across the globe partake in self-isolation for 14 days as an effective precautionary measure to protect those around them and themselves from contracting COVID-19.

Transmission of virus between humans happens when someone comes into contact with an infected person’s secretions, such as droplets in a cough.

It can also be transmitted by coming into contact with something an infected person has touched and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes.

How To protect yourself from Coronavirus: 

-Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand rub if your hands are not visibly dirty as washing hands with soap and water eliminates the virus if it is on the hands.

-When coughing and sneezing, cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – discard tissue immediately into a closed bin and clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water to prevent the spread of germs and viruses. If you sneeze or cough into your hands, you can pass the virus to other people that you have contact with.

-Eating fruits and vegetables that contain Vitamin C so that your immune system could be enhanced for better and be able to confront viruses.

-Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth as hands touch many surfaces, which can be contaminated with the virus. If you touch your eyes, nose or mouth with your contaminated hands, the virus from the surface may infect you.

Accordingly, you need to keep surrounding surfaces clean and free of coronavirus.

Make sure to keep all surrounding surfaces clean, even those that don’t usually cross minds like: keyboards, phone receivers, doorknobs, light switches, and remote controls.