KUWAIT: Up to 708 people contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kuwait in the past 24 hours, official spokesman of the Ministry of Health Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad announced yesterday. Dr Sanad, in a statement to the press, said the new batch of infected cases included a number of persons who contracted the virus due to mingling with people sickened with COVID-19, adding that infection circumstances of others were still to be determined.

The latest group of people who tested positive for the globally spread pandemic were recorded, according to the country's health zones, as following: 189 in Hawally, 165 in Al-Ahmadi, 157 in Farwaniya, 121 in the capital and 76 in Al-Jahraa. The number of ailed people that continue to receive intensive medical care has amounted to 86, Dr Sanad said, noting that the whole count of proven cases that remain under treatment has reached 9,408.

Medical staff conducted, during the past 24 hours, up to 3,928 swab tests, he said, putting the tally of such examinations, so far, at 679,670. The health ministry declared earlier that 506 of COVID-19 patients recovered during the same period, and revealed that the total figure of the recuperated stood at 85,501. Dr Al-Sanad appealed upon the public to remain vigilant and continue to heed the calls for protective measures against the highly contagious pathogen. - KUNA