Saudi Arabia records more than 5,000 recoveries in 24 hours

Saudi Arabia announced 41 more deaths from the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and 3,372 new cases of the disease on Thursday. (SPA)

• Saudi Arabia announces 41 more deaths from COVID-19
• A total of 1,428 people have died of the virus in the Kingdom so far

JEDDAH: The Saudi Health Ministry announced the highest number of recoveries from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours since the start of the pandemic. In this period 5,085 patients were declared to have recovered, bring the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 117,882.
Although the Kingdom has witnessed a slight decrease in new COVID-19 cases in recent days, particularly in cities that recorded widespread infection such as Riyadh, the ministry’s spokesman Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly said numbers do not reflect a steady decline.
“Epidemic curves often fluctuate, numbers change on a daily basis based on many factors, and the society’s adherence to precautionary measures is a major contributor,” said Al-Abd Al-Aly.
“However, these changes do not reflect social behavior within a day or two; instead, they reflect the outcome of society’s practices from two to four weeks ago.”
 He noted that people often assume that the pandemic is reversing by misreading the numbers. “The outcome of what we do today will appear within the next couple of weeks,” he added. Al-Abd Al-Aly stressed that people should adhere to precautionary measures while enjoying their time out.
“Make sure you avoid crowded places, avoid sharing personal belongings with strangers, dealing with or assembling around street vendors, and always pay extra attention to children,” he said.
The ministry shared a story about a man who contracted the disease because he neglected sanitizing his hands when he came home after shopping. As a result, he transferred the infection to six members of his family, one of whom suffers from hypertension and diabetes and is currently under intensive care in the hospital. Furthermore, the ministry noted that medical masks are effective in preventing infection but they should not be used for more than a day, while cloth face masks should be washed regularly.
According to Dr. Abdullah Asiri, assistant deputy minister for preventive health and an infectious disease consultant, there is no proof that COVID-19 can cause permanent lung damage.
He refuted the rumor that 30 percent of those who contracted the disease had pulmonary fibrosis (a disease that occurs when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred).
“The vast majority of people with COVID-19 do not show any symptoms of lung infection,” Asiri said.
“However, some patients had pneumonia, and most of them were simple cases that recovered within four to five days.”
He added that, as with any virus, COVID-19’s possible impact on the patients’ lungs increases with the time they rely on ventilators.
The ministry also said there are no confirmed cases in the Kingdom of a recovered COVID-19 patient who contracted the disease again, “however, it is too early to get a final answer in this regard,” said Al-Abd Al-Aly.
The Kingdom recorded 41 new COVID-19-related deaths on Thursday, raising the total to 1,428.
There were 3,372 new cases reported in Saudi Arabia, meaning 170,639 people had now contracted the disease. There were 51,325 active cases, and 2,206 of these are in critical condition. According to the Ministry of Health, 333 of the new cases were in Dammam, 331 in Makkah and 304 in Al-Hafouf.
The spokesman also noted that the ministry is currently carrying out 35,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on a daily basis, and the number will continue to increase.
The ministry has so far conducted 1,479,759 PCR tests for COVID-19.