Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia's tally of cases passes 24,000

The kingdom reported seven new deaths from Covid-19 and nearly 400 recoveries

Saudi women, wearing protective face masks, walk into the Tiba gold market in the capital Riyadh on April 30, 2020, after the partial lifting of the curfew. AFP

Saudi Arabia reported on Friday seven coronavirus deaths as the number of infections in the kingdom topped 24,000.

The Saudi health ministry said 1,344 new cases were recorded, bringing the total to 24,097, with 169 deaths.

There are 117 patients currently in intensive care, a ministry spokesman said.

Saudi authorities have reported more than 1,000 new Covid-19 infections daily since April 17, when the number of cases was about 7,000.

The ministry said the number pf patients who recovered from the virus rose by 392 to 3,555.

The country is continuing widespread testing while gradually lifting restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus

“Nasal swabs are being used to examine patients," the spokesman said, and urged the public to abide by government regulations such as wearing face masks and maintaining physical distance.

The kingdom on Sunday eased restrictions on movement between 9am and 5pm except in Makkah.

Schools, restaurants, mosques and other public venues where physical distancing is difficult to maintain remain closed and social gatherings of more than five people are banned.

Qatar reported 687 news cases on Friday, bringing the total to 14,096. The latest cases were detected after conducting more than 3,200 tests, taking the total number of people tested to 97,726.

Two Covid-19 patients died and 64 recovered in the past 24 hours, the Qatari health ministry said.

Four people died from the disease in Kuwait, bringing the total to 30 fatalities.

The latest cases were a Kuwaiti man and three expatriates, health ministry spokesman Abdullah Al Sanad said.

Mr Al Sanad said there were 353 new coronavirus cases, raising the total to 4,377.

The number of patients who recovered by 63 to 1,602.

Oman reported 99 new coronavirus infections on Friday, raising it tally to 2,447.

The health ministry said there were 41 Omanis and 58 expatriates among new cases.

The country eased some coronavirus measures earlier this week by lifting checkpoints put in place to restrict movement between provinces, and allowed some businesses to reopen.

Oman has recorded 11 deaths and 495 recoveries so far.

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