Riyadh, August 16, 2020, SPA -- The Ministry of Health announced in a statement here today that 1,227 new confirmed cases of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number to 298,542 cases, including 28,181 active cases undergoing treatment. Of these, there are 1,774 critical cases, while the health condition of the rest is stable, the ministry said, adding that 39 new deaths have been reported, putting the tally of fatalities, at 3,408. As many as 2,466 cases have recovered, raising recoveries' toll to 266,953, the report said, adding that new 60,016 laboratory tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, making the total 4,262,092. For his part, the Official Spokesman of the Ministry of Health Dr. Mohammed Al-Abdulali highlighted the role of precautionary measures, protocols and applications taken and applied by the backup health services provided by the government, to ensure the safety and sanitation of the society, as they contributed to control and decrease the number of confirmed cases, as well as the number of critical conditions undergoing treatment. --SPA 19:49 LOCAL TIME 16:49 GMT 0023 www.spa.gov.sa/w1391895