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. 2020 Sep 13;17(18):6666.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17186666.

Correlation of COVID-19 Pandemic with Healthcare System Response and Prevention Measures in Saudi Arabia

Heba M Adly  1 , Imad A AlJahdali  1 , Mohammed A Garout  1 , Abdullah A Khafagy  1 , Abdulla A Saati  1 , Saleh A K Saleh  2   3
Affiliations

Correlation of COVID-19 Pandemic with Healthcare System Response and Prevention Measures in Saudi Arabia

Heba M Adly et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The Saudi government has taken the decision to prevent the entrance of about 2.5 million international pilgrims seeking to perform hajj in order to protect the world from a catastrophic widespread of disease. Moreover, health systems in Saudi Arabia are offering free testing for residents whether Saudi and non-Saudi.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the spread of COVID-19 associated with preventive measures taken in Saudi Arabia and to develop a detailed COVID-19 prevention strategy as a framework for the Saudi Arabia community.

Methodology: Population size and age distributions among the country of Saudi Arabia were taken from the 2020 World Population Prospects. Contact patterns were measured using the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health Statistical Annual Report.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that performing screening tests as early as possible to facilitate the rapid detection of infected cases, fast treatment, and instant isolation for suspected cases is the most definitive rejoinder for public health. Moreover, our study revealed the significance of performing preventive measures in reducing infection and death rates around Saudi Arabia by 27%, while in other countries, it reduced the death rate ranging from 10-73%. This study provides an achievable strategy for prevention and early detection of COVID-19 spread.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Saudi Arabia; coronavirus; environmental measures; healthcare; infection; organizational measures; pandemic; prevention; protection; protocol; transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
COVID-19 7-days average total cases versus new cases recorded in Saudi Arabia recorded from 3 March–21 July 2020 (Using logarithmic scale based 10).
Figure 2
Figure 2
COVID-19 newly infected cases versus newly recovered cases in Saudi Arabia recorded from 15 February–21July 2020 (Using logarithmic scale based 10).
Figure 3
Figure 3
COVID-19 total recorded cases versus total death in Saudi Arabia recorded for COVID-19 from 3 March–21 July 2020 (Using logarithmic scale based 10).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Timeline of preventive measures taken by the Saudi Arabian government compared with the daily COVID-19 confirmed new cases recorded from February 3–July 21 2020.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Cumulative tests performed against the daily COVID-19 confirmed new cases compared with cumulative cases recorded from March–July 2020 (Using logarithmic scale based 10).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Number of COVID-19 tests performed in some countries around the world in July 2020.
Figure 7
Figure 7
A suggested COVID-19 preventive measures strategy that is valid to the circumstances in Saudi Arabia. Rt-PCR is defined as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction laboratory test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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