Daily coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia have risen above 500 for the first time since October and the health ministry blamed the increase on gatherings and laxity in complying with preventive measures such as social distancing.

The Gulf state recorded 510 new infections on Friday and 502 on Saturday to take its total tally to 387,794 cases with 6,643 deaths. More than 200 of the cases were in the capital Riyadh, according to Reuters.

The kingdom had seen daily infections fall to below 100 in January from a peak of more than 4,000 in June.