Saudi Arabia reports 753 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths

Saudi nursing staff wait at the location where the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine is being administered as part of a vaccination campaign by the Saudi health ministry in the capital Riyadh on December 17, 2020. (AFP)

• Saudi health ministry said that of the current cases, 98 were in critical condition

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia reported 753 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the Ministry of Health. As a result, the total number of cases in the Kingdom over the course of the pandemic grew to 776,890.

The authorities also confirmed three new COVID-19-related deaths, raising the total number of fatalities to 9,170.

Of the new infections, 295 were recorded in Riyadh, 121 in Jeddah, 98 in Dammam, 32 in Makkah, 30 in Hofuf and 25 in Madinah. Several other cities recorded fewer than 20 new cases each.

The ministry said that of the current cases, 98 were in critical condition.

The ministry also announced that 633 patients had recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom over the course of the pandemic to 758,821.

It said that 8,899 COVID-19 cases were still active, adding that 25,999 PCR tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to nearly 43 million.

More than 66 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered since the Kingdom’s immunization campaign began, with over 25 million people fully vaccinated.