RIYADH — After showing a consecutive three days of decline in the number of coronavirus infections, new cases in Saudi Arabia again soared on Sunday to stand at 1,877 raising the total confirmed afflictions in the Kingdom to 85,261. On Saturday, the health ministry recorded 1,618 confirmed cases whereas the number stood at 1,581 on Friday. New infections recorded on Thursday were 1,644. Twenty-three people died of the virus in the country, which brings the virus-related death toll to 503, health ministry spokesman Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali was quoted by Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying. Meanwhile, 3,559 people recovered from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours. This raises the total number of recoveries in the country to 62,442, he said. Jeddah reported the highest number of cases (586) on Sunday followed by Riyadh with 504, Makkah 159, Dammam 110, Madinah 95, Hufof 55, Jubail 50, Al-Khobar 33, Dhahran 29, Buraidah 25, Taif 22, Qatif 21, 18 each in Al-Madah and Mubarraz, 17 in Hail, 13 in Khulais and 10 in Safwa. The other cases were confirmed in other cities and provinces around the Kingdom, the spokesman said. Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah on Saturday said that more than 70 percent of the cases in the Kingdom have recovered so far as a result of the country's treatment protocols. "We have treatment protocols developed by Saudi experts," Al-Rabiah said. "These protocols are continuously updated with any new global developments related to treatments and procedures," he added.
