RIYADH: Saudi Arabia confirmed three new COVID-19 related deaths on Thursday, raising the total number of fatalities to 8,788. The Ministry of Health confirmed 51 new cases reported in the Kingdom in the previous 24 hours, meaning 548,474 people have now contracted the disease. Of the total number of cases, 59 remain in critical condition. According to the ministry, the highest number of cases were recorded in the capital Riyadh with 14, followed by Jeddah with 11, Makkah recorded three, and Madinah, Dammam, Yanbu and Dhahran recorded two cases each. The health ministry also announced that 35 patients had recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 537,453. Over 45.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered since the Kingdom’s immunization campaign started. More than 21.3 million people have been fully vaccinated. The coronavirus pandemic has affected over 246million people globally and the death toll has reached around 4.99 million.