In positive news that highlights the efficacy of Saudi Arabia’s measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, the Kingdom continues to make significant and steady progress in reducing the number of new COVID-19 cases, with the newest figures showing cases at a three-month low.
The number of new coronavirus infections in Saudi Arabia continued to decrease on Sunday with the health ministry recording 1,357 cases. That figure represents the lowest total in three months, and also a steady decline since June 17th, when daily new positive cases nearly reached 5,000.
The last similar figure was on April 29, when there were 1,351 new cases, Arab News reports. The Kingdom has now recorded 278,835 cases since the pandemic began, and the death toll rose by 30 on Sunday to 2,917.
Of the new cases, 153 were recorded in Makkah, 94 in the capital Riyadh, 72 in Jeddah and 64 in Hofuf.
Pilgrims at this year’s scaled-back Hajj.
The steady progress in curbing the Coronavirus represents a win for Saudi Arabia’s leaders, who have made difficult and expensive decisions to prioritize the fight against the virus. Just as the Kingdom started to show signs of a surge in new cases, officials implemented lockdowns in cities and the imposition of some of the strictest curfews globally. Still, with the timing of the surge and lockdowns, the virus managed to spread further in large Saudi households and close-knit communities during the holy month of Ramadan.
Placing safety first, Saudi Arabia dramatically scaled back the Hajj this year. A reduced number of pilgrims returned to the Jamarat Bridge for the stoning ritual on Saturday, the fourth day of Hajj, as the season neared an end with no cases of COVID-19 at the holy sites, In addition to a reduced number of pilgrims, Saudi Arabia ensured that places visited during the Hajj were sanitized, noting that the Grand Mosque was sterilized and disinfected after pilgrims completed their Tawaf Al-Ifada ritual on the third day of Hajj.
The mosque has been cleaned 10 times a day during the pandemic crisis, officials said.
