KUWAIT: Kuwait set a new record in daily COVID-19 cases for the fourth straight day yesterday, after the Ministry of Health announced that 1,716 people tested positive over the previous 24 hours, while eight patients died over the same period. Total cases rose to 196,497 and deaths to 1,105 as of yesterday. Kuwait had reported 1,409 new cases on Wednesday, 1,341 on Tuesday and 1,179 on Monday.

Meanwhile, the number of patients of hospital climbed to 12,071 as of yesterday, including 167 in intensive care units; a notable increase from 157 ICU patients on Monday. Health workers took 11,208 swab tests over the past 24 hours, ministry spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad said yesterday, adding that the total number of swab tests taken since the start of the pandemic reached 1,822,389.

The ministry had earlier revealed that 1,125 patients have recovered over the same period, raising total recoveries to 183,321. Dr Sanad went on to urge the public to abide by health precautions, mainly social distancing, in order to limit the spread of the virus.