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Observational Study
. 2020 Sep 17:8:506.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00506. eCollection 2020.

Epidemiology of COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Ecological Study

Mohammad H Alyami  1 , Abdallah Y Naser  2 , Mohamed A A Orabi  3   4 , Hassan Alwafi  5 , Hamad S Alyami  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Epidemiology of COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Ecological Study

Mohammad H Alyami et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: Considering the transmissible nature of COVID-19 it is important to explore the trend of the epidemiology of the disease in each country and act accordingly. This study aimed to examine the trend of COVID-19 epidemiology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in term of its incidence rate, recovery rate, and mortality rate. Material and Methods: We conducted an observational study using publicly available national data taken from the Saudi Ministry of Health for the period between 3 March and 7 June 2020. The number of newly confirmed cases, active cases, critical cases, percentage of cases stratified by age group [adults, children, and elderly] and gender were extracted from the reports of the Saudi Ministry of Health. Results: During the study period, the total number of confirmed cases with COVID-19 rose from one on 2 March 2020 to 101,914 on 7 June, representing an average of 1,039 new cases per day, [trend test, p < 0.000]. Despite the increase in the number of newly confirmed daily cases of COVID-19, the number of reported daily active cases started to stabilize after 2 months from the start of the pandemic in the country and the overall recovery rate was 71.4%. The mortality rate decreased by 6.4% during the study period. COVID-19 was more common among adults and males compared to other demographic groups. Conclusion: The epidemiological status of COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia showing promising improvement. Males and adults accounted for the majority of COVID-19 cases in the KSA. Further studies are recommended to be conducted at the patient level to identify other patient groups who are at higher risk of getting infected with COVID-19, and for whom the best pharmacological intervention could be provided.

Keywords: COVID-19; Saudi Arabia; epidemiology; pandemic; trend.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trends of the epidemiology of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Incidence rate of COVID-19 stratified by city (five main cities in Saudi Arabia).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Recovery rate from COVID-19.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mortality rates due to COVID-19.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Rate of daily reported critical cases among COVID-19 patients.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Rate of the epidemiology of COVID-19 daily cases stratified by gender.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Rate of the epidemiology of COVID-19 daily cases stratified by age group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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