RIYADH — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday recorded 1,277 new COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths due to complications caused by the virus over the past 24 hours as the health ministry has stepped up its vaccination campaign. This brings the total number of confirmed infections in the Kingdom to 495,309 and the virus-related fatalities to 7,907. According to the ministry, a total of 1,080 people recovered over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of people free from the deadly virus to 475,448 The Riyadh region reported the highest number of new cases with 328, followed by the Eastern region with 264, the Makkah region with 240, and the Asir region with 134 infections. The remaining cases were detected in other regions of the Kingdom with just two of them reporting less than 10 infections. According to the ministry, there were 11,954 active cases and 1,363 of them were in critical condition.