RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health on Friday recorded 1,383 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the Kingdom to 295,902. The ministry said 35 more patients died due to complications caused by the infection, taking the virus-related fatalities in the Kingdom to 3,338. Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries in Saudi Arabia rose to 262,959 after 2,566 people recovered. According to the ministry, a total of 81 new cases were reported in Makkah, while 77 people tested positive in Hail, and 69 tested positive in Jeddah. The capital city of Riyadh witnessed a sharp drop registering only 63 new infections over the past 24 hours. The other new cases were detected in cities and provinces across Saudi Arabia. There were 29,605 active cases in the Kingdom out which 1,782 were in a critical condition. The ministry said on Thursday it has conducted more than 4 million COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the Kingdom. According to the ministry, during the initial days of the outbreak, the Kingdom was conducting about 1,000 tests a day, now the number has exceeded 67,000. The ministry also said that Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries in the world to provide laboratory testing for the coronavirus, and has so far launched 50 specialized labs and units across the country. As part of the ministry's efforts to intensify testing across the Kingdom, designated Tetamman centers have been launched where no prior appointment is required. Drive-thru testing centers have also been set up across the Kingdom to ensure that more tests are conducted in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the ministry said.
