COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia is part of the COVID-19 pandemic that began in Wuhan, China , in December 2019 . The pandemic triggers the novel disease COVID-19 ; this is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the Coronaviridae group and belongs to the group of respiratory diseases . From March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as a global pandemic.
Course in the country
For a long time, Saudi Arabia referred to Covid-19 as a " Shiite epidemic".
On March 2, 2020, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Saudi Arabia; this case first appeared in WHO situation reports on March 3, 2020, and by April 7, the WHO had confirmed 2,752 COVID-19 cases and 38 deaths in Saudi Arabia.
On April 14, Saudi Arabia was the most affected state in the region after Iran, Turkey and Israel, with over 3,400 reported cases - both in the ruling family and among migrant workers: Lt. The New York Times has so far infected over 150 princes , half of them are in hospital. Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud , the governor of Riyadh , who had been showing signs of dementia for some time as an 84-year-old and was a nephew of King Salman, appears to be the first in critical condition . Accordingly, the king himself went to palace quarantine near Jeddah on an island in the Red Sea . His son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia) retired with some loyal followers and ministers to a remote part of the coast of the Red Sea on the Jordanian border , where the futuristic city of Neom is to be built.
The curfew , which was also imposed on the country here , was extended indefinitely at the beginning of April, and the population was only allowed to leave their accommodations to shop. All airports in the country were closed at the beginning of March, and travel between the thirteen provinces was prohibited. S.-As Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah had warned that the pandemic was only just beginning and that the number of infected people could grow to 200,000. The number of unreported infections in the country is extremely high because there is a lack of tests for the lung virus.
According to the Twitter channel of the Saudi whistleblower Mujtahidd , 500 intensive care beds are being kept free in the King Faisal Clinic in the capital, Riyadh, which is reserved exclusively for the ruling family and foreign diplomats ; There are already 1,000 corona infected people in the Al-Shumaisi Hospital in the city, and 50 doctors and nurses were infected in Mecca . In the countryside there are also thousands of cases that are not treated in clinics.
According to doctors, the virus has spread in S.-A. noticeably widespread among the migrant workers in the country from other countries in Asia and other Arab nations; these make up about a third of the 33 million inhabitants. They often live tightly packed in shared rooms and have practically no access to medical care. In fact, the pandemic epidemic was mainly spread here by Egyptian guest workers. In addition, members of the Saudi royal family are said to have brought the virus from shopping tours in Italy and Spain .
While there were just over 5,000 infected people in mid-April 2020, this number had already increased tenfold by mid-May, so that only Iran was more severely affected in the region. More than 100,000 cases were reported on June 7, and more than 150,000 cases of infection on June 19. Of these, over 105,000 were considered cured. The active cases were concentrated on June 22, 2020 in the capital Riyadh (438), the port cities Jeddah (388) and Dammam (345), Mecca (269) and Qatif (217), as well as four other locations with over 100 active cases . In the 25th calendar week alone (June 15 to 21, 2020) there were over 30,000 new infections. The number of deaths also rose rapidly: in mid-April 2020 there were a little over 50, in mid-May a little more than 250, at the end of May already over 500 and in mid-June over 1,000 reported Covid-19 deaths.
After three months of closure, the approximately 1,500 holy sites of Mecca were reopened on June 21, despite the dramatic numbers of the 25th calendar week, as they want to prepare them for the Hajj . Already at the end of May this step was dared for the other parts of the country and tens of thousands of places of worship, including the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, were reopened. For the time being, international travel is still out of service.
Consequences and measures
background
The escalation of the pandemic, which begins here, hits the country in a critical phase: A power struggle is raging in the royal family and ruling dynasty of Saud : At the beginning of March of that year, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman left his father's only living brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, and the Crown Prince , who was ousted in 2017 and arrest longtime Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef. In the war in neighboring Yemen ( -> Houthi conflict ), the Houthis have been on the military advance since the beginning of 2020; At the end of March, they fired rockets at Saudi Arabia for the first time since the attack on Abqaiq and Churais . They left the riad's offer for a ceasefire unanswered.
Economic consequences
In the wake of the 2020 economic crisis , not only the oil price but also the stock markets at Tadawul fell by 6.8% at the beginning of May. On top of that, the high-turnover pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina , which usually generates an annual income of ten billion euros in the country, is pausing - it is still unclear whether the Islamic world meeting " Hajj " at the end of July will have to be canceled for the first time in over 200 years. Its last rejection was triggered by Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 .
According to the Arab Central Bank , the kingdom has seen a $ 27 billion decline in the value of assets deposited abroad from the outbreak of the crisis to the end of April 2020. At the end of April 2020, it was 464 billion US dollars, the lowest it has been in 19 years.
statistics
The number of cases developed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia as follows:
Infections
Confirmed infections (cumulative) in Saudi Arabia during the day
(April 16 to August 16, 2020) according to WHO data
Confirmed infections (cumulative) in Saudi Arabia over the course of the week
according to WHO data
New infections in Saudi Arabia
(April 16 to August 16, 2020) according to WHO data
New infections (per calendar week) in Saudi Arabia
according to WHO data
Deaths
Confirmed deaths (cumulative) in Saudi Arabia during the day
(April 16 to August 16, 2020) according to WHO data
Confirmed deaths (cumulative) in Saudi Arabia over the course of the week
according to WHO data
Confirmed deaths (daily) in Saudi Arabia
(April 16 to August 16, 2020) according to WHO data
Confirmed deaths (per calendar week) in Saudi Arabia
according to WHO data
Remarks
- ↑ a b c d Since August 17, 2020, the WHO reports have only been published weekly, but contain additional information (around cases per million inhabitants). The last daily WHO report ( No. 209 , pdf) was published on August 16, 2020.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h This lists cases that have been reported to WHO by national authorities. Since the situation is very dynamic, there may be discrepancies or delays between the cases of the WHO and the data of national authorities as well as the information provided by other bodies, such as the Johns Hopkins University (CSSE).
Web links
- World Health Organization (WHO): Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports on the website www.who.int (English)
- Johns Hopkins CSSE : Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases. (English)
- Website World of Meters : real-time data of the Corona virus pandemic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pulmonologists on the net: Covid-19: Causes . Online at www.lungenaerzte-im-netz.de. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ↑ Tagesschau: "Deeply worried". WHO speaks of corona pandemic . March 11, 2020. Online at www.tagesschau.de. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ↑ a b c d e f Badische Zeitung: Panic in the Saudi Palaces - Abroad - Badische Zeitung. Retrieved April 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Saudi Arabia announces first case of coronavirus . March 2, 2020. Accessed April 8, 2020.
- ↑ World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report . March 3, 2020. Online at www.who.int. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
- ↑ World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report . April 7, 2020. Online at www.who.int. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ A b Corona recoveries on the rise in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Gazette , June 22, 2020, accessed June 22, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports. WHO, accessed May 12, 2020 .
- ↑ Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia opens mosques in Mecca. Tiroler Tageszeitung , June 20, 2020, accessed on June 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Saudi Arabia lifts coronavirus curfew. BBC News , June 21, 2020, accessed June 22, 2020 .
- ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Record deficit: Stock exchange in Saudi Arabia collapses - DER SPIEGEL - Economy. Retrieved May 3, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Saudi foreign reserves fall at fastest for two decades . In: Reuters . April 29, 2020 ( reuters.com [accessed May 3, 2020]).
