Managing the COVID-19 pandemic in thirty-two policy measures in Saudi Arabia: A mixed-methods analysis

Autor: Meriam Amamou, Kais Ben-Ahmed
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Infection and Public Health, Vol 16, Iss 10, Pp 1650-1658 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1876-0341
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2023.08.008
Popis: Background: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has developed rigorous strategies to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, the effectiveness of these measures in containing and mitigating the epidemic has yet to be studied. This paper aims to assess the efficiency of preventive policy initiatives that Saudi Arabia has taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19, which was rapid and progressive in nature. Information on the effectiveness of measures applies to help the Saudi government adjust policy responses when considering which measures to relax once the epidemic is controlled. Methods: Data for this study were retrieved via publicly available data sources such as the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health and the government's official news agency—Saudi Press Agency (SPA) websites. Other datasets, such as prevention measures, were gathered from the Country Policy Tracker website. Our dataset's time component extends over 590 consecutive days from 20 January 2020–31 August 2021. Moreover, a mixed-method approach combining COVID-19 data and prevention measures was adopted to assess preventative measures practice. We compiled the dataset used in this study in a Microsoft Excel database. The significance of observed differences among implementing effective strategies was determined using ANOVA and Mixed methods approach. Noticeably, the statistical analysis was performed using the open-source statistical system R version 4.2 (available at http://cran.r-project.org). Results: Our analysis showed that only three out of the 32 (9.4%) measures significantly reduced the spread of COVID-19. Our results also show substantial variations in the spread of COVID-19 associated with preventive measures in Saudi Arabia. There was a significant positive correlation between activating and massive testing in communities and cases of COVID-19 (measure effect = 923.086 and p
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