Saudi Health Minister Warns of Danger of 2nd Virus Wave
Saudi Minister of Health, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, reported that there has been a steady rise in the number of coronavirus infections over the past few days, and that one of the most significant reasons for this increase has been social gatherings of all kinds.
In a speech published by the Ministry of Health via its official Twitter account, he added that the virus must be handled with all seriousness and for people not to be negligent in taking steps to ensure confronting this virus and responding to emergency measures.
He continued: “You notice that many countries of the world are experiencing the second wave of the pandemic, and it is worse than the first, and we are not immune from that. Therefore, we must deal with this virus with all seriousness and not be complacent in taking all precautions to confront and address it.”
If complacency in social gatherings continues and preventive measures continue to not be applied, we will face the danger of the second wave, the minister stressed.
Al-Rabiah directed that it is imperative for everyone to deal seriously with the developments of the pandemic and to adhere to health precautions, especially wearing masks, social distancing, hand hygiene and not shaking hands, all of which prevent the coronavirus and limit its spread.
This concerning rise in daily coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia has been blamed on failures to follow health protocols at growing numbers of social gatherings.
The Kingdom’s daily coronavirus tally has climbed above the 200 mark in recent weeks, with Riyadh leading in case numbers among the country’s regions.
A total of 270 new cases were reported on Saturday January 30 by the Ministry of Health, raising the overall figure to 367,813 since the pandemic began in March of last year.
For months, the number of active cases significantly declined while daily recoveries exceeded new cases. But following a number of violations in past weeks, active cases have fluctuated between 1,900 and 2,200 as authorities across the Kingdom’s regions warned against social gatherings and ignorance of health and safety protocols.
Therefore there are currently 2,142 active cases, 352 of which are in critical care.
Across the regions, Riyadh recorded 105 new cases, the Eastern Province 66, Makkah 40 and Madinah 16. The other regions recorded fewer than 10 cases each, with Jazan recording only a single case on Saturday.
About 300 new recoveries were reported on Saturday, raising the total number to 359,299. The recovery rate is holding steady at 97.6 percent.
According to the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, Riyadh is leading in recovery numbers nationwide with more than 60,000, followed by Makkah with 34,259, Jeddah in close third with 33,968 and Madinah with 22,530.
