Saudi Arabia ranked sixth for safest travel

Health clinics set up by the ministry as testing hubs or treatment centers have helped hundreds of thousands of people since the outbreak. (SPA)

There are approximately 5,000 active cases and the number of recoveries has reached 346,023, with 401 recorded recoveries on Saturday

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has ranked sixth among the safest travel destinations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to an article published by Wego Travel Blog, called “Safe Places to Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” the Kingdom was the only Middle East country in the group. Countries were chosen according to an EU methodology for its travel risk assessment.

The classification methodology includes epidemiological criteria, countries’ ability to significantly decrease and stabilize the spread of the virus for a sustained period of time, health system capacity, and centers with large-scale testing capacity to detect and monitor infections.

Saudi Arabia’s COVID-19 mortality rate continues to decrease, with a further 13 deaths on Saturday.

Its daily death count has been decreasing as of late, with fewer than 20 deaths per day since Nov. 12. The total number of deaths recorded in the Kingdom since the beginning of the pandemic has reached 5,870.

There were 220 new cases recorded, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 356,911.

INNUMBERS

356,911 COVID-19 cases

346,023 Recoveries

5,000 Active cases

5,870 Total deaths

There are approximately 5,000 active cases and the number of recoveries has reached 346,023, with 401 recorded recoveries on Saturday. The Kingdom’s recovery rate is 96.9 percent.

Riyadh recorded the highest number of new cases with 55, Jeddah was second with 28, Madinah had 15 cases and Makkah 12. There are 675 patients in critical care units, a decrease from Friday’s 698.

There have been 36,709 PCR tests carried out in the past 24 hours.

Health clinics set up by the ministry as testing hubs or treatment centers have helped hundreds of thousands of people around the Kingdom since the outbreak.

Among those testing hubs are Takkad (make sure) centers and Tetamman (rest assured) clinics.

Takkad centers provide COVID-19 testing for those who show no or mild symptoms or believe they have come into contact with an infected individual, while the Tetamman clinics offer treatment and advice to those with virus symptoms, such as fever, loss of taste and smell, and breathing difficulties.

Appointments for either service can be made through the ministry’s Sehaty app.