RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Saturday confirmed 1,726 new COVID-19 infections in the previous 24 hours, meaning 726,251 people have now contracted the disease. According to the Ministry of Health, the highest number of cases were recorded in the capital Riyadh with 643, followed by Jeddah with 128, Dammam with 107, Al-Hofuf confirmed 81, and Madinah recorded 64. Of the total number of cases, 1,020 remain in critical condition. The ministry confirmed two new coronavirus related deaths, raising the total number of fatalities to 8,971 since the pandemic began. The health ministry also announced that 2,983 patients had recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 688,519. Over 59.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered since the Kingdom’s immunization campaign started. More than 23.9 million people have been fully vaccinated. The coronavirus pandemic has affected over 409 million people globally and the death toll has reached around 5.82 million.