The health ministry says 27 patients have recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours RIYADH: Saudi Arabia confirmed two new COVID-19 related deaths on Thursday, raising the total number of fatalities to 8,839. The Ministry of Health confirmed 24 new cases reported in the Kingdom in the previous 24 hours, meaning 549,810 people have now contracted the disease. Of the total number of cases, 42 remain in critical condition. According to the ministry, the highest number of cases were recorded in the capital Riyadh with seven, followed by Jeddah with four, Madinah confirmed three, and Makkah recorded two cases. The health ministry also announced that 27 patients had recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 538,966. Over 47.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered since the Kingdom’s immunization campaign started. More than 22.4 million people have been fully vaccinated. The coronavirus pandemic has affected over 264 million people globally and the death toll has reached around 5.24 million.