One Year Since the Detection of 1st Covid-19 Case In Saudi Arabia

 A security woman checks the temperature of a woman at Riyadh International Airport, after Saudi Arabia reopened domestic flights, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
A security woman checks the temperature of a woman at Riyadh International Airport, after Saudi Arabia reopened domestic flights, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
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One Year Since the Detection of 1st Covid-19 Case In Saudi Arabia

 A security woman checks the temperature of a woman at Riyadh International Airport, after Saudi Arabia reopened domestic flights, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
A security woman checks the temperature of a woman at Riyadh International Airport, after Saudi Arabia reopened domestic flights, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri

Saudi Arabia recorded its first Covid-19 infection of a citizen returning from Iran on March 2, 2020, after which cases began to increase reaching around 5,000 infections per day.

Today, a year after the first case, the epidemic curve is flat between 300 and 400 daily infections. These figures come following a period during which Saudi Arabia recorded the lowest level of cases, around 100 per day, to later witness a rise at the beginning of 2021, forcing the authorities to re-impose precautionary measures and suspend some activities.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced that four new vaccines were under study and could be approved, in addition to the two vaccines that are now administered in the large vaccination campaigns within the Kingdom.

A year after the first infection, statistics show that the number of people who got the Covid-19 virus represents more than one percent of the population, with a total number of deaths exceeding 6,000.

The cumulative number of cases reached around 377,000 including 368,000 recoveries.

Saudi Arabia has accelerated the pace of the vaccination campaign by opening dozens of dedicated centers across the country and launching an in-car vaccination service in a number of cities.

The number of doses administered so far has reached nearly 700,000, which represents the vaccination of about one out of every 100 individuals in the country, at the very least.

The Ministry of Interior will begin easing the precautionary measures by the end of this week, in light of the flattening of the epidemic curve over the past two weeks.



Saudi Defense Minister, State Secretary to Sweden’s PM Meet in Riyadh

The Saudi Minister of Defense met Thursday in Riyadh with the State Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sweden. SPA
The Saudi Minister of Defense met Thursday in Riyadh with the State Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sweden. SPA
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Saudi Defense Minister, State Secretary to Sweden’s PM Meet in Riyadh

The Saudi Minister of Defense met Thursday in Riyadh with the State Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sweden. SPA
The Saudi Minister of Defense met Thursday in Riyadh with the State Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sweden. SPA

Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz met Thursday in Riyadh with State Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sweden Johan Stuart.

During the meeting, they discussed ways to enhance and develop cooperation between both countries and addressed issues of mutual interest.