Riyadh, March 23, 2020, SPA -- The committee concerned with following up the health status of the Coronavirus held thirty-third meeting today, Monday, under the chairmanship of Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah, and attended by members of the committee who represent a number of relevant government sectors, where they were informed of reports and developments on the virus, and the worldwide epidemiological situation was also reviewed and the cases recorded in the Kingdom and to check on their health conditions, while stressing the continued application of preventive measures in the entry points and strengthening them, and taking precautionary measures to address it and prevent its spread, and calling on everyone to stay indoors and not go out except when necessary during the period of roaming. After the meeting, a press conference was held in which the Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr. Mohamed Al-Abdali and the security spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Lt. Col. Talal Al-Shalhoub and the Communications and Information Technology Commission spokesperson Ali Al-Mutairi and the Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Abdul-Rahman Al-Hussein participated, where the health spokesperson explained that the total number of confirmed cases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide reached (343) thousand cases, and the number of recovered cases reached (99) thousand cases so far, and the number of deaths reached (14700) cases. He added that (51) new cases of the Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 were reported in the Kingdom, of which (25) cases were monitored in travel-related cases and they have been quarantined, and the remaining (26) cases were social contact with previous cases. Thus, the cumulative number of cases of Covid-19 disease in the Kingdom (562), of which (19) recovered, and no deaths (0) have been reported to date. These new cases were distributed in the following cities and governorates: Riyadh (18), Mecca (12), Taif (6), Bisha (5), Dammam (3), Qatif (3), Jizan (2), Najran (1) , Al-Qunfudhah (1). The number of males (266) and females (296), all of which are adults, with the exception of (29) cases of children. Also, advanced laboratory tests reached (28) thousand, all of which were negative cases, except for what has been confirmed of cases, which is 562 cases, and he stressed to everyone by adhering to these recommendations for their safety and health, and for the health of society, such as avoiding shaking hands, persistently washing hands, covering the mouth when coughing, sneezing and disposing of tissues correctly, staying indoors as much as possible, avoiding gatherings, not going out except for necessity, and applying all isolation procedures for everyone who came from outside the Kingdom for a period of 14 days. He renewed the recommendation to take advantage of the service of self-evaluation of the symptoms of infection with the Novel Coronavirus on the smart application (Mawid) provided by the Ministry of Health to all citizens and residents, and who benefited from the service about (70) thousand people. He continued to warn of rumors and urged everyone to refer to reliable sources and what the Ministry of Health declares, and everyone who has symptoms, inquiries or consultations we welcome their contact on the number 937 around the clock, which exceeded the number of 325 thousand inquiries and consultations regarding the Novel Coronavirus. For his part, Lt. Col. Talal Al-Shalhoub, security spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior and Director of the General Department of Media Affairs said, We have all followed the directive of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to implement the curfew decision starting from this day, corresponding to 28/7/1441, and also we have all followed the appendix to the Ministry of Interior to clarify violations data for those who violate the curfew decision from this day, and added that the security men will start their duties from this day from 7 o'clock the start of the curfew decision from 7 in the evening this day until 6 o'clock in the morning, drawing attention to the fact that all security men present in all cities, provinces, centers and villages of the Kingdom to implement the curfew decision, and indicated that sanctions will be applied strictly to everyone who violates the curfew, calling for everyone to cooperate in implementing the curfew decision and its validity period of 21 days starts from 7 pm until 6 am, and he stressed that getting out for the extreme situation only, and that the Ministry of Interior in its issued statement indicated to communicate and to clarify the extreme situation, every citizen and resident, when he wants to evaluate the extreme case, can call the number 911 in the western region as well as 999 in all other regions to assess what is the extreme case and it does not mean that everyone is going out because the citizen is not the one who assesses the extreme situation, and the security men have provided a means of communication to provide an opportunity for all residents, and we hope that all citizens and residents adhere to the instructions and support the security men in all locations by implementing the curfew decision. While the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, Abdul-Rahman Al-Hussein, explained during the joint press conference that the decision of curfews will not affect the services that the citizen needs and are in full continuity and that everyone can request them through electronic delivery applications, as it includes more than 9 sectors operating in times of curfew and outside it . And that the Ministry of Commerce and all government agencies work around the clock to serve the citizen and the resident, indicating that the ministry and Communications and Information Technology Commission launched an initiative to urge delivery applications in the Kingdom to harness their efforts and multiply their capabilities to meet local demand, with regard to supplies, vegetable and fruit stores, meat shops and other food sectors to serve the citizen and the resident during the curfew period. Al-Hussein stressed that the supervisory teams at the Ministry of Commerce and the Business Service Center are continuing even during curfew periods, and will be present in sales outlets in all sectors of nutrition and warehouses to ensure the availability of food stocks, pointing out that the consumer protection number (1900) and the application of a "Commercial Complaint" receives reports about violations monitored by citizens and residents. Al-Hussein drew attention to the fact that the ministry has monitored through its control teams in various regions of the Kingdom that the movement of demand and purchase and shopping is at its natural rate, offering thanks and appreciation to the consumer for his awareness and his concern not to compete in the sales outlets especially that the Kingdom has food stocks and a large abundance. Ali Al-Mutairi, Director General of Corporate Communications at the Communications and Information Technology Commission, affirmed that since the beginning of the fallout of the Coronavirus, the commission has undertaken a set of precautionary measures represented in generalizing safety requirements on all postal companies and applications and delivery platforms licensed by the commission, noting that the commission has conducted tours during the last period inspection oversight to ensure that these measures are applied permanently and continuously, especially since there is a turnout after the curfew decision. Al-Mutairi called on citizens and residents to deal with delivery applications registered and listed on the website of the commission, noting that those applications are available 24 hours a day to request from the sectors excluded from the curfew decision. He urged everyone in the event of any violations or reports on these applications, communicate on 19966, which works around the clock. --SPA 00:18 LOCAL TIME 21:18 GMT 0035 www.spa.gov.sa/w1293632