JEDDAH: The Saudi Ministry of Health has praised the community’s response after a milestone was reached in the return to normal life with the number of coronavirus cases steadily decreasing in the Kingdom.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly, the ministry’s spokesman, said public commitment to precautionary measures played a key role in the gradual return to normal life.
“We can return to our work offices as long as we abide by the safety rules, including wearing face masks, avoiding handshakes, adhering to social distancing and keeping the number of participants at work meetings to a minimum,” he said.
Companies should pursue alternatives to physical meetings, such as virtual meeting tools, Al-Aly said.
People who had symptoms of the virus should be excused from coming to the office, he added.
About 40 protocols to return to work are available in eight languages on covid19awareness.sa. The website provides instructions and awareness tips for visiting mosques, funerals, tourist sites, domestic and international flights, factories, trains and more.
Anyone who has inquiries about the safe return to work can call the business affairs call center at 920018090.
“Symptoms and the body’s reaction to the virus vary from one person to another; therefore, people should only receive health advice from professionals,” Al-Aly said, adding that “recovered patients’ experiences should not be taken as an example.”
INNUMBERS
• 307,479 Total cases
• 280,143 Recoveries
• 3,649 Deaths
He said that although both MERS and COVID-19 are coronaviruses, no MERS cases were reported in the Kingdom in recent months.
“Precautionary measures have contributed to eliminating the spread of not only COVID-19 but also MERS, as well as different types of microbes.”
The spokesman said that 1,109 new cases were reported on Sunday, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Kingdom to 307,479.
The number of recoveries has increased after 1,702 new recoveries were recorded, increasing the total number to 280,143.
Thirty new deaths were announced on Sunday as total deaths rose to 3,649.
There are 23,687 active cases, 1,644 of which are in critical care units.
The number of confirmed cases in cities is steadily decreasing after none recorded over 100 cases on Sunday. Makkah recorded 65 new cases, Madinah 61, Jazan 57 and Jeddah 52.
More than 4.67 million polymerase chain reaction tests have been carried out in the Kingdom, with 52,313 new tests completed in the past 24 hours.
