[THREAD] Saudi health minister warns that the kingdom is facing a “critical moment” in dealing with the coronavirus. He says best case scenario forecast is 10,000 cases, worst case scenario around 200,000 cases

The minister says some people are not taking the pandemic seriously enough, which made the government yesterday announces all-day curfews in major cities after data showed that traffic was down only 46% compared with normal days before the crisis

Government approved additional funds to support the healthcare system in dealing with the coronavirus, the minister says. Total spending expected to reach $8.5 billion by the end of year, but not easy to acquire ventilators and test kits from the global market due to high demand

The minister says the lax attitude by some people could increase the number of coronavirus cases rapidly which threatens to collapse the healthcare system if the measures are not taken seriously /fin