KUWAIT: Kuwait's Ministry of Health said yesterday 174 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours, while no deaths were reported. The new infections increased the number of registered cases to 146,218 while deaths remained at 911, MoH spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad said in a statement to the press. Kuwait had registered only zero deaths on Friday and only one death Saturday, and zero yesterday.

Meanwhile, cases continued to drop for the third straight day, after registering 294 on Friday and 256 on Saturday. The health ministry had announced earlier yesterday that 269 people recovered from coronavirus in the previous 24 hours, raising the total to 142,094. Kuwait had announced 256 new recoveries on Saturday and 310 on Friday.

The number of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) also dropped in the past three days. There were 62 COVID-19 patients in ICUs as of yesterday, down from 68 on Saturday and 66 from Friday. The total number of people receiving treatment stood at 3,213 yesterday. Dr Sanad said yesterday health care workers conducted 3,679 swab tests in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of swabs taken since the outbreak of the pandemic in Kuwait to 1,180,662.

In comparison, the ministry had announced on Saturday that 4,824 swab tests were conducted the previous day, while Friday's count for the previous day stood at 6,725. Dr Sanad urged the public to maintain physical distancing and wear masks, as well as following instructions posted on the MoH's official sites.