RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health has ruled out imposing stricter lockdown measures amid rising COVID-19 case numbers in the Kingdom.
MoH spokesman Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly said that the Kingdom “has achieved great strides,” the most significant of which was “reaching higher levels of herd immunity through vaccinations and booster jabs.”
Speaking on the “Yahala Show” program on Rotana Khalijiya channel on Monday, Al-Abd Al-Aly said that a reimposition of strict lockdown measures is “unlikely” because “symptoms of the pandemic at present in the Kingdom do not have the same intensity as during 2020.”
He added: “The current situation is much better than what we were in, whether at the beginning of last year or at the beginning of the pandemic, as we have many experiences and information about the virus and how to confront it, as well as achieving a large percentage of herd immunity by immunization.
“We have succeeded in making significant gains.”
Al-Abd Al-Aly said that concerns over the increase in COVID-19 cases and the possibility of a return to strict precautionary measures is “appreciated,” but added that there are specialized committees which monitor the situation to make decisions on such measures.
The Kingdom has achieved great strides, the most significant of which was reaching higher levels of herd immunity through vaccinations and booster jabs.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly, Health Ministry spokesman
He said that people who receive booster shots will be “highly protected from infection” and that COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations are occuring most frequently among unvaccinated people in the Kingdom.
He requested the Saudi public to comply with precautionary measures and receive two vaccine doses, as well as a booster shot.
Dr. Kamran Sattar, a health expert working at King Khalid Hospital in Riyadh, told Arab News that concern has grown over the need for a new lockdown.
“In response, the MoH spokesperson ruled out the prospect of applying a tougher lockdown. This relieves the citizens and residents. Now it’s our responsibility to follow the updates only from official sources to protect ourselves and others in society.”
The MoH said on Tuesday that daily COVID-19 cases in the Kingdom jumped to 2,585 over the past 24 hours. It added that there were 96 critical cases.
Two new COVID-19-related deaths were recorded, bringing the Kingdom’s death toll over the course of the pandemic to 8,883. There were also 375 recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 543,129.
The total number of cases over the course of the pandemic reached 562,437.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Saudi Health Minister Fahd Al-Jalajel said that a surge in COVID-19 cases in the coming days is “expected.”
As the omicron variant continues to spread around the world, the US set a global record of more than 1 million daily COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has released new evidence that the omicron variant affects the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms than previous variants.
