The Coronavirus pandemic continues to ease in Saudi Arabia, with daily new cases remaining under 1,000 this week and trends continuing in a positive direction in what may potentially provide a boost to the Kingdom’s economy in the months ahead.
Saudi Arabia announced 33 more deaths from COVID-19 and 822 new cases of the disease on Friday, which moves the death total past 4,000. Of the new cases, 48 were recorded in Jeddah, 48 in Makkah, 45 in Dammam, 41 in Riyadh and 40 in Madinah, according to official data.
Coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia.
The total number of recoveries in the Kingdom increased to 295,063 after 1,099 more patients recovered from the virus.
A total of 4,015 people have succumbed to the virus in the Kingdom so far.
Meanwhile, authorities are now zeroing in on Saudi youth to further contain the spread. Half of Saudi Arabia’s recent coronavirus cases are among young people who have not been following health guidelines, the country’s health ministry said.
“Epidemiological investigation teams tracking the spread have noticed that half of the confirmed cases recorded as of late are of people not adhering to proper protocols such as wearing masks and following social distancing measures in public places; most of them are of the youth demographic,” ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Abd al-Aly told reporters Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia’s patient success in battling the Coronavirus’ spread may be starting to help its economy, according to Arab News, which cited comments from two top Saudi ministers.
Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih announced that 506 new business licenses were granted in the first half of this year, with a burst in activity in June partly compensating for a big fall-off in April and May when lockdowns severely curtailed global investment activity.
The minister said he was “encouraged by the resilience demonstrated by the Saudi economy in the first half of 2020,” Arab News reports.
