COVID-19: Saudi Arabia says masks and social distancing mandatory in all indoor, outdoor areas

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has announced that wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines will be mandatory in all indoor and outdoor events and activities from 07:00 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30. 

According to the Saudi Press Agency, an official source from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior said the decision was made by the country’s health authorities due to a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases and the occurrence of new mutations for the virus. 
The source indicated that all procedures and safety measures are subject to continuous evaluation based on the local and global situation.
People living in Saudi Arabia are being urged to follow the new protocols in order to avoid facing legal penalties for failing to adhere to the precautionary measures.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom announced one death from COVID-19 and 744 new infections on Wednesday.

Of the new cases, 187 were recorded in Riyadh, 155 in Makkah, 149 in Jeddah, 32 in Hofuf, 22 in Madinah, 22 in Al-Mubarraz, 18 in Al-Khobar, 16 in Arar, and 14 in Dammam.

The total number of recoveries in the Kingdom increased to 541,388 after 231 more patients recovered from the virus.

A total of 8,874 people have succumbed to the virus in the Kingdom so far.

Over 50.1 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the Kingdom to date.

Reference:https://www.arabnews.com/node/1994796/saudi-arabia