The Progressive Public Measures of Saudi Arabia to Tackle Covid-19 and Limit Its Spread

Abstract

Since the beginning of the global novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, the response of governments has varied significantly across the world. This was one of the main reasons behind the difference in the disease fatality rates between countries. In this study, the public progressive measures taken in Saudi Arabia (SA) are described in detail. This is a descriptive study in which measures were retrieved via the government official news agency-Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The total number of Covid-19 cases and its fatality rate were obtained/calculated from the Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) official Covid-19 port, as well as the WHO COVID-19 dashboard. SA took active measures in order to interrupt the spread of Covid-19 which were strict, rapid, and progressive in nature. Social distancing was at the heart of almost every measure taken by the government. The main themes of these interventions are as follows: travel bans, suspending religious activities, closure of non-essential shops, enforcing changes at workplaces, and imposing curfews. This was followed by the gradual return to working life with various precautions to prevent a spike in the number of cases. The imposed measures in SA succeeded in reducing the burden of Covid-19 and its fatality rate. Comparatively, the fatality rate in SA was significantly lower compared to developed countries with better healthcare infrastructure such as the United States and United Kingdom.

Keywords: Covid-19; Saudi Arabia; curfews; health protection; social distancing.

Figure 1

The measures taken to tackle Covid-19 in Saudi Arabia. The diagram summarizes the measures taken by the Saudi government to limit the spread of Covid-19. These measures include: travel bans, suspending religious activities, closure of non-essential shops, changes to workplace (including the switch to distance learning), and imposing curfews. Eventually, new regulations have been in place for a gradual safe return to the lifestyle prior to Covid-19. These guidelines include the mandatory facemask in public, measuring people’s temperature upon entering closed spaces, and other social-distancing measures.

Figure 2

Daily new cases and deaths of Covid-19 in Saudi Arabia in comparison to UK and US. (A) The 3 graphs demonstrate the number of daily new cases in SA compared to UK and US. The peak number of new daily cases in SA is significantly less than UK and US. Such difference can be appreciated by the vast difference in the labeling of the Y axis. Similarly, (B) the peak number of daily deaths of Covid-19 infections in SA was significantly less than the UK’s and the US’s. Figures were retrieved from the Worldometers Covid-19 portal [7]. SA: Saudi Arabia; UK: United Kingdom; US: United States.