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. 2021 Jan 18:8:606385.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.606385. eCollection 2020.

Controlling COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mass Screening Experience in Saudi Arabia

Anas A Khan  1   2 , Hadil M Alahdal  3 , Reem M Alotaibi  4 , Hana S Sonbol  3 , Rana H Almaghrabi  5 , Yousef M Alsofayan  2 , Saqer M Althunayyan  6 , Faisal A Alsaif  7 , Sami S Almudarra  8 , Khaled I Alabdulkareem  9 , Abdullah M Assiri  10 , Hani A Jokhdar  11
Affiliations

Controlling COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mass Screening Experience in Saudi Arabia

Anas A Khan et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

A highly accelerating number of people around the world have been infected with novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Mass screening programs were suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an effective precautionary measure to contain the spread of the virus. On 16 April 2020, a COVID-19 mass screening program was initiated in Saudi Arabia in multiple phases. This study aims to analyze the number of detected COVID-19 cases, their demographic data, and regions most affected in the initial two phases of these mass screening programs. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among the high-risk population as part of the COVID-19 mass screening program across all regions in Saudi Arabia during April and May 2020. A Chi-square-test was used to determine the associations between positive cases and various demographic variables. Out of 71,854 screened individuals, 13.50% (n = 9701) were COVID-19 positive, of which 83.27% (n = 59,835) were males. Among positive cases, in the 30-39 years age group, 6.36% were in the active phase, and 2.19% were in the community phase. Based on our experience, launching mass screening programs is crucial for early case detection, isolation, and pattern recognition for immediate public interventions.

Keywords: COVID-19; Saudi Arabia; mass testing; pandemic; screening.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer MM declared a shared affiliation with several of the authors YA, SSA, AA, and HJ to the handling editor at time of review.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
COVID-19 epidemiological curve with active and community mass screening phases between 16 April- 19 May 2020 in Saudi Arabia.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The percentage of positive COVID-19 cases among all screened individuals in Saudi Arabia between 16 April−19 May 2020 in active and community phases in terms of age groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The percentage of positive COVID-19 cases in different regions in Saudi Arabia between 16 April and 19 May 2020 among active and community phases of mass screenings.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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