RIYADH — Saudi Arabia reported 3,121 new cases of the novel coronavirus, its highest daily toll so far, bringing the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 98,869, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday. Health ministry spokesman Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali was quoted by Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying that 34 people died of COVID-19 in the Kingom in the past 24 hours. This raises the virus-related death toll in the country 676. Meanwhile, the number of recoveries rose to 71,791 after 1,175 people recovered from the virus. Riyadh recorded the biggest number of new cases, where a total of 900 infections were confirmed in the last 24 hours. Jeddah followed the capital with 572 new infections. There were 279 cases in Makkah, 170 in Madinah, 149 in Dammam, 144 in Hufof, 121 in Qatif, 86 in Al-Khobar, 76 in Taif, 53 in Maabarraz, 51 in Muzahimah, 49 in Jubail, 47 in Khamis Mushayt, 36 in Dhahran, 28 in Ad-Diriyah, 26 in Buraidah, 19 in Abha, 18 in Al-Kharj, 17 in Hottat Bani Tamim, 14 in Al-Jafr, 13 each in Safwa and Jazan, and 10 cases in Najran. The other cases were detected in cities and provinces across the Kingdom. The health ministry had warned on Friday that it was monitoring the number of cases reported in Riyadh to determine whether reimposing strict restrictions, including a curfew, would be necessary. The Ministry of Interior on Friday announced that a curfew from 3 p.m. to 6 a.m. would be imposed on the city of Jeddah due to a large increase in the number of cases reported in the area. All workplace attendance, in both the public and private sector, has been halted, and prayers in mosques around the city have been suspended. Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah has made frequent appeals to the public to adhere to precautionary measures, adding that maintaining social distancing practices and following the rules would be the only way to prevent infection for now.
