As of June 1, 2022, the total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) amounted to just under 800 thousand. At that time, the cumulative number of deaths due to COVID-19 exceeded nine thousand across the country.
Government responses
The Saudi Arabian government first introduced its travel ban in early February 2020, prior to the discovery of the country’s first COVID case on March 2, 2020. The government also took decisive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, such as postponing or canceling religious, entertainment, and sports mass gatherings. The suspension of Umrah pilgrimages and the temporary closure of Masjid al-Haram (the Grand Mosque) in Makkah, and Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah were later announced. The annual Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, attracting around 2.5 million pilgrimages during the week-long ritual before the COVID-19 outbreak, was also substantially pared back in 2020. In the government’s initiative to ease the restrictions imposed during the outbreak, Hajj in 2021 was resumed but limited to citizens and residents living in Saudi Arabia. Makkah was Saudi Arabia's top domestic tourist destination that year, surpassing 13 million visitors.
Tourism industry in the aftermath
The pandemic-induced travel bans and border closures, though crucial and effective in mitigating the transmission of coronavirus, left a heavy impact on the inbound tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Lockdowns during Hajj and Umrah seasons also significantly affected the holy city of Makkah, where religious tourism played a key role. However, as up to one million pilgrims would be allowed restricted access to perform Hajj after two years of disruption, the hotel occupancy rates in Makkah were expected to increase during 2022, indicating the recovery of the country's tourism industry. On the other hand, the country has been seeking to expand its non-religious tourism industry, in line with the goals of diversifying the national economy outlined in the Saudi Vision 2030.
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Saudi Arabia recorded 9646 Coronavirus Deaths since the epidemic began, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, Saudi Arabia reported 841469 Coronavirus Cases. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for Saudi Arabia Coronavirus Deaths.
As of November 5, 2020 the total number of death caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in Saudi Arabia was over 5.4 thousand. The total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases to date in the country was around 349 thousand with over 336 thousand recovered.
For further information about the coronavirus pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.
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In past 24 hours, Saudi Arabia, Asia had N/A new cases, N/A deaths and N/A recoveries.
As of Aril 2, 2020, the daily increase of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Saudi Arabia (KSA) was 165. As of March 25, 2020, Saudi Arabia ordered a lockdown on the capital Riyadh, Makkah and Madinah to control the spread of the coronavirus.
The 43.4 percent of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia until the second quarter of 2020 was among youths. The percentage of youth deaths out of total infected youths was 0.04 percent, as the virus poses lower risk potential to youths compared to other age groups. The youth population between the age of 15 to 34 was the highest in Saudi Arabia in 2020 among all age groups.
Sources:Johns Hopkins University. 2020. “Mapping 2018-nCoV.” January 23. https://systems.jhu.edu/research/public-health/ncov/)
Apple. 2020. “Mobility Trends Reports.” https://www.apple.com/covid19/mobility
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Project Tycho datasets contain case counts for reported disease conditions for countries around the world. The Project Tycho data curation team extracts these case counts from various reputable sources, typically from national or international health authorities, such as the US Centers for Disease Control or the World Health Organization. These original data sources include both open- and restricted-access sources. For restricted-access sources, the Project Tycho team has obtained permission for redistribution from data contributors. All datasets contain case count data that are identical to counts published in the original source and no counts have been modified in any way by the Project Tycho team, except for aggregation of individual case count data into daily counts when that was the best data available for a disease and location. The Project Tycho team has pre-processed datasets by adding new variables, such as standard disease and location identifiers, that improve data interpretability. We also formatted the data into a standard data format. All geographic locations at the country and admin1 level have been represented at the same geographic level as in the data source, provided an ISO code or codes could be identified, unless the data source specifies that the location is listed at an inaccurate geographical level. For more information about decisions made by the curation team, recommended data processing steps, and the data sources used, please see the README that is included in the dataset download ZIP file.
COVID-19 situation in Saudi Arabia collected from MOH daily reports https://twitter.com/SaudiMOH Explore the latest data on the COVID-19 situation and demographics in Saudi Arabia. This dataset provides valuable insights into the impact of the pandemic within the country. Follow data.kapsarc.org for timely data to advance energy economics research.
COVID-19 Saudi Arabia
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Descriptive statistics of patients’ fear of COVID-19 and hospital anxiety and depression scales.
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This Project Tycho dataset includes a CSV file with COVID-19 data reported in SAUDI ARABIA: 2020-01-03 - 2021-07-31. It contains counts of cases and deaths. Data for this Project Tycho dataset comes from: "COVID-19 Data Repository by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University", "European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Website", "World Health Organization COVID-19 Dashboard". The data have been pre-processed into the standard Project Tycho data format v1.1.
The dataset contains COVID-19 statistics for the top countries currently affected by the virus. The data was scraped from two popular sites maintaining daily updates on the spread of COVID-19 - https://www.worldometers.info/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic
There are two kinds of csv files. One type of files are country wise daily statistics on COVID-19 spread. The data for the following countries is available:-
For each of these countries, the dataset contains the following columns:-
The second type of file is the overall statistics which contains statistics for all the countries affected in the world. This dataset contains the following columns:-
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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread to over 150 countries worldwide. Since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Saudi Arabia, cases have continued to escalate exponentially. The COVID-19 outbreak has had a negative effect on mental health and well-being. The study aimed to investigate the effects of the strict national regulations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of Saudi residents. Saudi residents aged 18 years or older were invited to complete an online questionnaire after one month of a nationwide 24-h curfew between May 6, 2020 and May 13, 2020. We measured psychological distress using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). We ran binary logistic regression analyses to detect variables that significantly predicted DASS-21 scores.Results: A sample of 2252 participants was recruited from the general population of Saudi Arabia. The DASS-21 score means and standard deviations for depression and anxiety for the whole sample (10.73 ± 10.29 and 6.98 ± 8.30, respectively) were in the range of mild depression and anxiety. In contrast, the mean DASS-21 stress score was within the normal range (11.97 ± 10.80). The mean stress score for healthcare workers was within the normal range (13.70 ± 10.68) but was significantly higher than the mean score for the public (11.56 ± 10.89; P = 0.0006). Several variables (e.g., age, gender, and history of contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases) were significantly associated with higher DASS-21 scores.Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a psychological burden. Therefore, there is an urgent need to implement emergency public health interventions that ameliorate the risk perception of COVID-19 through the dissemination of adequate and targeted health information that could be a successful measure to mitigate the psychological impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a major public health crisis worldwide, and the Eastern Mediterranean is one of the most affected areas.Materials and Methods: We use a data-driven approach to assess the characteristics, situation, prevalence, and current intervention actions of the COVID-19 pandemic. We establish a spatial model of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic to project the trend and time distribution of the total confirmed cases and growth rate of daily confirmed cases based on the current intervention actions.Results: The results show that the number of daily confirmed cases, number of active cases, or growth rate of daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 are exhibiting a significant downward trend in Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia under the current interventions, although the total number of confirmed cases and deaths is still increasing. However, it is predicted that the number of total confirmed cases and active cases in Iran and Iraq may continue to increase.Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia will be largely contained if interventions are maintained or tightened. The future is not optimistic, and the intervention response must be further strengthened in Iran and Iraq. The aim of this study is to contribute to the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 10, 2023, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center ceased its collecting and reporting of global COVID-19 data. For updated cases, deaths, and vaccine data please visit the following sources: World Health Organization (WHO)For more information, visit the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.-- Esri COVID-19 Trend Report for 3-9-2023 --0 Countries have Emergent trend with more than 10 days of cases: (name : # of active cases) 41 Countries have Spreading trend with over 21 days in new cases curve tail: (name : # of active cases)Monaco : 13, Andorra : 25, Marshall Islands : 52, Kyrgyzstan : 79, Cuba : 82, Saint Lucia : 127, Cote d'Ivoire : 148, Albania : 155, Bosnia and Herzegovina : 172, Iceland : 196, Mali : 198, Suriname : 246, Botswana : 247, Barbados : 274, Dominican Republic : 304, Malta : 306, Venezuela : 334, Micronesia : 346, Uzbekistan : 356, Afghanistan : 371, Jamaica : 390, Latvia : 402, Mozambique : 406, Kosovo : 412, Azerbaijan : 427, Tunisia : 528, Armenia : 594, Kuwait : 716, Thailand : 746, Norway : 768, Croatia : 847, Honduras : 1002, Zimbabwe : 1067, Saudi Arabia : 1098, Bulgaria : 1148, Zambia : 1166, Panama : 1300, Uruguay : 1483, Kazakhstan : 1671, Paraguay : 2080, Ecuador : 53320 Countries may have Spreading trend with under 21 days in new cases curve tail: (name : # of active cases)61 Countries have Epidemic trend with over 21 days in new cases curve tail: (name : # of active cases)Liechtenstein : 48, San Marino : 111, Mauritius : 742, Estonia : 761, Trinidad and Tobago : 1296, Montenegro : 1486, Luxembourg : 1540, Qatar : 1541, Philippines : 1915, Ireland : 1946, Brunei : 2010, United Arab Emirates : 2013, Denmark : 2111, Sweden : 2149, Finland : 2154, Hungary : 2169, Lebanon : 2208, Bolivia : 2838, Colombia : 3250, Switzerland : 3321, Peru : 3328, Slovakia : 3556, Malaysia : 3608, Indonesia : 3793, Portugal : 4049, Cyprus : 4279, Argentina : 5050, Iran : 5135, Lithuania : 5323, Guatemala : 5516, Slovenia : 5689, South Africa : 6604, Georgia : 7938, Moldova : 8082, Israel : 8746, Bahrain : 8932, Netherlands : 9710, Romania : 12375, Costa Rica : 12625, Singapore : 13816, Serbia : 14093, Czechia : 14897, Spain : 17399, Ukraine : 19568, Canada : 24913, New Zealand : 25136, Belgium : 30599, Poland : 38894, Chile : 41055, Australia : 50192, Mexico : 65453, United Kingdom : 65697, France : 68318, Italy : 70391, Austria : 90483, Brazil : 134279, Korea - South : 209145, Russia : 214935, Germany : 257248, Japan : 361884, US : 6440500 Countries may have Epidemic trend with under 21 days in new cases curve tail: (name : # of active cases) 54 Countries have Controlled trend: (name : # of active cases)Palau : 3, Saint Kitts and Nevis : 4, Guinea-Bissau : 7, Cabo Verde : 8, Mongolia : 8, Benin : 9, Maldives : 10, Comoros : 10, Gambia : 12, Bhutan : 14, Cambodia : 14, Syria : 14, Seychelles : 15, Senegal : 16, Libya : 16, Laos : 17, Sri Lanka : 19, Congo (Brazzaville) : 19, Tonga : 21, Liberia : 24, Chad : 25, Fiji : 26, Nepal : 27, Togo : 30, Nicaragua : 32, Madagascar : 37, Sudan : 38, Papua New Guinea : 38, Belize : 59, Egypt : 60, Algeria : 64, Burma : 65, Ghana : 72, Haiti : 74, Eswatini : 75, Guyana : 79, Rwanda : 83, Uganda : 88, Kenya : 92, Burundi : 94, Angola : 98, Congo (Kinshasa) : 125, Morocco : 125, Bangladesh : 127, Tanzania : 128, Nigeria : 135, Malawi : 148, Ethiopia : 248, Vietnam : 269, Namibia : 422, Cameroon : 462, Pakistan : 660, India : 4290 41 Countries have End Stage trend: (name : # of active cases)Sao Tome and Principe : 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines : 2, Somalia : 2, Timor-Leste : 2, Kiribati : 8, Mauritania : 12, Oman : 14, Equatorial Guinea : 20, Guinea : 28, Burkina Faso : 32, North Macedonia : 351, Nauru : 479, Samoa : 554, China : 2897, Taiwan* : 249634 -- SPIKING OF NEW CASE COUNTS --20 countries are currently experiencing spikes in new confirmed cases:Armenia, Barbados, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Portugal, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan 20 countries experienced a spike in new confirmed cases 3 to 5 days ago: Argentina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Korea - South, Lithuania, Mozambique, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates 47 countries experienced a spike in new confirmed cases 5 to 14 days ago: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Congo (Kinshasa), Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malta, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Thailand, Tunisia, US, Uruguay, Zambia, Zimbabwe 194 countries experienced a spike in new confirmed cases over 14 days ago: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea - South, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan*, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, US, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe Strongest spike in past two days was in US at 64,861 new cases.Strongest spike in past five days was in US at 64,861 new cases.Strongest spike in outbreak was 424 days ago in US at 1,354,505 new cases. Global Total Confirmed COVID-19 Case Rate of 8620.91 per 100,000Global Active Confirmed COVID-19 Case Rate of 37.24 per 100,000Global COVID-19 Mortality Rate of 87.69 per 100,000 21 countries with over 200 per 100,000 active cases.5 countries with over 500 per 100,000 active cases.3 countries with over 1,000 per 100,000 active cases.1 country with over 2,000 per 100,000 active cases.Nauru is worst at 4,354.54 per 100,000.
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Radiological findings.
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SIR model predicting COVID-19 epidemic in KSA in lockdown and post-lockdown scenarios.
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Patients demographic characteristics at presentation.
This dataset was collected from data received via this APi.
“[Recovered cases are a] more important metric to track than Confirmed cases.”— Researchers for the University of Virginia’s COVID-19 dashboard
If the number of total cases were accurately known for every country then the number of cases per million people would be a good indicator as to how well various countries are handling the pandemic.
№ | column name | Dtype | description |
---|---|---|---|
0 | index | int64 | index |
1 | continent | object | Any of the world's main continuous expanses of land (Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, Oceania) |
2 | country | object | A country is a distinct territorial body |
3 | population | float64 | The total number of people in the country |
4 | day | object | YYYY-mm-dd |
5 | time | object | YYYY-mm-dd T HH :MM:SS+UTC |
6 | cases_new | object | The difference in relation to the previous record of all cases |
7 | cases_active | float64 | Total number of current patients |
8 | cases_critical | float64 | Total number of current seriously ill |
9 | cases_recovered | float64 | Total number of recovered cases |
10 | cases_1M_pop | object | The number of cases per million people |
11 | cases_total | int64 | Records of all cases |
12 | deaths_new | object | The difference in relation to the previous record of all cases |
13 | deaths_1M_pop | object | The number of cases per million people |
14 | deaths_total | float64 | Records of all cases |
15 | tests_1M_pop | object | The number of cases per million people |
16 | tests_total | float64 | Records of all cases |
Datasets contend data about covid_19 from 232 countries - Afghanistan - Albania - Algeria - Andorra - Angola - Anguilla - Antigua-and-Barbuda - Argentina - Armenia - Aruba - Australia - Austria - Azerbaijan - Bahamas - Bahrain - Bangladesh - Barbados - Belarus - Belgium - Belize - Benin - Bermuda - Bhutan - Bolivia - Bosnia-and-Herzegovina - Botswana - Brazil - British-Virgin-Islands - Brunei - Bulgaria - Burkina-Faso - Burundi - Cabo-Verde - Cambodia - Cameroon - Canada - CAR - Caribbean-Netherlands - Cayman-Islands - Chad - Channel-Islands - Chile - China - Colombia - Comoros - Congo - Cook-Islands - Costa-Rica - Croatia - Cuba - Curaçao - Cyprus - Czechia - Denmark - Diamond-Princess - Diamond-Princess- - Djibouti - Dominica - Dominican-Republic - DRC - Ecuador - Egypt - El-Salvador - Equatorial-Guinea - Eritrea - Estonia - Eswatini - Ethiopia - Faeroe-Islands - Falkland-Islands - Fiji - Finland - France - French-Guiana - French-Polynesia - Gabon - Gambia - Georgia - Germany - Ghana - Gibraltar - Greece - Greenland - Grenada - Guadeloupe - Guam - Guatemala - Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Guyana - Haiti - Honduras - Hong-Kong - Hungary - Iceland - India - Indonesia - Iran - Iraq - Ireland - Isle-of-Man - Israel - Italy - Ivory-Coast - Jamaica - Japan - Jordan - Kazakhstan - Kenya - Kiribati - Kuwait - Kyrgyzstan - Laos - Latvia - Lebanon - Lesotho - Liberia - Libya - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Macao - Madagascar - Malawi - Malaysia - Maldives - Mali - Malta - Marshall-Islands - Martinique - Mauritania - Mauritius - Mayotte - Mexico - Micronesia - Moldova - Monaco - Mongolia - Montenegro - Montserrat - Morocco - Mozambique - MS-Zaandam - MS-Zaandam- - Myanmar - Namibia - Nepal - Netherlands - New-Caledonia - New-Zealand - Nicaragua - Niger - Nigeria - Niue - North-Macedonia - Norway - Oman - Pakistan - Palau - Palestine - Panama - Papua-New-Guinea - Paraguay - Peru - Philippines - Poland - Portugal - Puerto-Rico - Qatar - Réunion - Romania - Russia - Rwanda - S-Korea - Saint-Helena - Saint-Kitts-and-Nevis - Saint-Lucia - Saint-Martin - Saint-Pierre-Miquelon - Samoa - San-Marino - Sao-Tome-and-Principe - Saudi-Arabia - Senegal - Serbia - Seychelles - Sierra-Leone - Singapore - Sint-Maarten - Slovakia - Slovenia - Solomon-Islands - Somalia - South-Africa - South-Sudan - Spain - Sri-Lanka - St-Barth - St-Vincent-Grenadines - Sudan - Suriname - Sweden - Switzerland - Syria - Taiwan - Tajikistan - Tanzania - Thailand - Timor-Leste - Togo - Tonga - Trinidad-and-Tobago - Tunisia - Turkey - Turks-and-Caicos - UAE - Uganda - UK - Ukraine - Uruguay - US-Virgin-Islands - USA - Uzbekistan - Vanuatu - Vatican-City - Venezuela - Vietnam - Wallis-and-Futuna - Western-Sahara - Yemen - Zambia - Zimbabw-
As of 2023, the number of hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stood at ***. This was *** more than the previous year. Overall, the country has seen a consistent rise in the number of hospitals in the past decade; however, the prior two years were an anomaly with the number of hospitals dropping for the first time. Medical facilities and privatization of the hospital sector In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health remains the main provider of preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative healthcare services. The majority of hospital beds across Saudi Arabia are also owned by the Ministry of Health. While the Kingdom’s health law aims to ensure healthcare provision for all its population in a fair and accessible manner, the constant growth of the population placed a burden on the sustainability of free health services. The development of healthcare through privatization, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, thus offers a solution to help the state maintain and improve the quality of the public healthcare system. Healthcare amid the COVID-19 pandemic The increasing number of coronavirus cases across the country has encouraged the Saudi Arabian government to further develop and optimize digital health technology platforms (DHTPs). Prior to the pandemic, as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan to promote the accessibility of healthcare, the Minister of Health already introduced Seha, which is a mobile application that allows patients access to remote medical consultations with specialists. May 2019 marked the launch of the e-health app Mawid Service, which facilitates online booking, canceling, and rescheduling of patient appointments at primary health care centers. Amid the pandemic, additional apps and features were also incorporated into the telehealth system, such as Tawakkalna, Ttabaud, and Tataman, which helped mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. In general, the digital transformation of Saudi Arabia’s health sector seemed to have successfully aid the fight against COVID-19, yielding positive public response to the national healthcare system.
As of June 1, 2022, the total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) amounted to just under 800 thousand. At that time, the cumulative number of deaths due to COVID-19 exceeded nine thousand across the country.
Government responses
The Saudi Arabian government first introduced its travel ban in early February 2020, prior to the discovery of the country’s first COVID case on March 2, 2020. The government also took decisive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, such as postponing or canceling religious, entertainment, and sports mass gatherings. The suspension of Umrah pilgrimages and the temporary closure of Masjid al-Haram (the Grand Mosque) in Makkah, and Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah were later announced. The annual Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, attracting around 2.5 million pilgrimages during the week-long ritual before the COVID-19 outbreak, was also substantially pared back in 2020. In the government’s initiative to ease the restrictions imposed during the outbreak, Hajj in 2021 was resumed but limited to citizens and residents living in Saudi Arabia. Makkah was Saudi Arabia's top domestic tourist destination that year, surpassing 13 million visitors.
Tourism industry in the aftermath
The pandemic-induced travel bans and border closures, though crucial and effective in mitigating the transmission of coronavirus, left a heavy impact on the inbound tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Lockdowns during Hajj and Umrah seasons also significantly affected the holy city of Makkah, where religious tourism played a key role. However, as up to one million pilgrims would be allowed restricted access to perform Hajj after two years of disruption, the hotel occupancy rates in Makkah were expected to increase during 2022, indicating the recovery of the country's tourism industry. On the other hand, the country has been seeking to expand its non-religious tourism industry, in line with the goals of diversifying the national economy outlined in the Saudi Vision 2030.