RIYADH — New COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia surged past 1,200 once again on Tuesday, with 1,261 new infections recorded over the past 24 hours, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health. The ministry also announced 17 more deaths over the past 24 hours due to complications caused by the virus. This brings the total number of confirmed infections in the Kingdom to 459,968 and the virus-related fatalities to 7,488. The ministry also reported 922 recoveries over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of people free from the deadly virus to 442,782. The Makkah region reported the highest number of new cases with 401, followed by the Riyadh region with 304, the Eastern region with 167, and the Madinah region with 84 infections. The remaining cases were detected in other regions of the Kingdom with just one of them reporting less than 10 infections. According to the ministry, there were 9,698 active cases and 1,580 of them were in critical condition.