Coronavirus disease 2019 in proportion to population: a historical analysis of Saudi Arabia.

Background: Saudi Arabia is one of the countries seriously affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide. With a few cases in early March, the daily spread of this disease increased to nearly 5000 at one point in time during the first wave to mid-June 2020. With committed efforts and public health interventions, it has been controlled to nearly 1000 by the end of August 2020 and less than 217 by November 28, 2020; thereafter, reporting declines and small increases. However, by December 2021, a third wave started, lasting for 2 months, during which the infection rate increased rapidly. By April 1, 2022, the number of infected persons in the country was 750,998, with 9047 deaths, 7131 active, and approximately 400 critical cases. This analysis of COVID-19 statistics of the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia (March 2020-April 2022) is carried out along with population data to extract patient proportions per 100,000 persons to illustrate the hypothesized social and community impact, which influences families and households. Results: The results showed a high rate of infection and mortality, but with recovery. These rates varied across localities and cities. A few cities with higher population densities are less affected by the spread of the epidemic. However, few localities and upcoming cities/townships were severely affected. These effects are explained as the percentage of the population affected, which exposes the impact on societies, families, and individual members. With concerted efforts, they are brought under control through recovery and adopting mitigation methods. Conclusions: Localities could be classified into four categories based on the proportion of the infected population: rapidly increasing, moderately increasing, declining, and stabilizing. Moreover, differential proportions of the affected population have implications at social and familial levels. Analysis and understanding of these trends, considering the base population, are important for policy building and intervention strategies accounting for grassroots-level demographics, which might serve as a tool to enhance interventions at population and family levels. Strategies for awareness creation and compassionate care are essential to address the psychosocial impact of health emergencies, as proved by the Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.

COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: An Overview.

BACKGROUND: Saudi Arabia, a prominent Arabian country, has 35. 3 million persons living in 2.2 million square kilometers, undergone serious threats recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the built-in infrastructure and disciplined lifestyle, the country could address this pandemic. AIMS: This analysis of COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia attempts to assess the situation, explore its global percentage share, percentage of population affected, and local distribution from the beginning of infection until recently, tracing historical developments and changes. DATA AND METHODS: This analysis made use of data released by the Ministry of Health on a daily basis for a number of parameters. They are compiled on an excel sheet on a daily basis: the dataset has undergone rigorous analysis along with the trends and patterns; proportion to the world statistics and geographic distribution. RESULTS: COVID-19 spread rapidly in the country with periodic variations, during June-August, 2020. But, recoveries accelerated in the period, thus bridging the gap of increasing infections. In comparison with the world statistics, the country proportions are lower, while the percentage of population affected is similar. It appears that the intensity varied across all 13 administrative areas. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 transmission since March 2020 is considered to be widespread, creating excess burden on the public health system, delineated into stages (early infection, rapid spread, declining, stabilizing, and second wave). Control measures are set, stage-wise, without impinging upon normal life but to ensure that the proportion of globally affected persons is lesser than the population share: credit goes to the Ministry of Health. Area-wise spread depends largely on population density and development infrastructure dimensions. Ultimately, the disciplined life in compliance with law and order paved the way for effective program implementation and epidemic control.

Fertility behaviour of working women in Saudi Arabia: a special case of King Saud University, Riyadh.

Fertility levels and their determinants in Saudi Arabia have not been studied sufficiently for formulating family policy, although some attention has been paid to rapid fertility transitions in the context of socioeconomic and cultural change. This study focused on the fertility of a particular occupational category in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assess determinants of fertility, measured as the number of children. The sample was drawn from the King Saud University staff - ever-married Saudi Arabian women. Results found that proximate factors (age, age at first marriage, intended number of children, length of marriage and contraceptive use) were significant in predicting fertility behaviour, whereas geographic, social and economic factors were insignificant. Thus, the fertility behaviour of this occupational group seems unique. This might be due to the special characteristics and lifestyle of this particular occupational group. The effect of the intended number of children on the actual number signified the fertility behaviour of this group of women. This, expectedly, should improve the influence of social and economic factors on fertility behaviour, in the future. Thus, advocates, policies and programmes (population and public health) at the societal and familial levels, should consider the demographic change in the social and economic context.

Variations in basic demographics consequential to population size of governorate in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, divided into 5 planning regions, 13 administrative regions and further to 118 governorates (administrative units), has diverse demographic characteristics from one region to another and from one governorate to another. Rural to urban migration and an exodus of immigrants characterize the Kingdom, where development planning depend largely upon local level requirements based on economic activities. An attempt was made to analyze the population characteristics, such as population size, sex ratio, native to foreigner ratio, and households and persons per households by keeping governorate as unit of analysis. Data of two census period (2004 and 2010) was used in order to explore the situation and track the intercensal changes. Large variations in population were observed between governorates and it varied from 3686 to 5,007,886 in 2010. Governorates are divided according to the number of native population demarcating urbanization, modernization and infrastructure. During the intercensal period, the number of small governorates reduced and medium and large sized governorates increased mainly due to population growth. The average population in governorates was increased in total and in the larger governorates during the period. However, we noticed a reduction in the average population size in the small and medium sized governorates. The size of native population in a governorate influences the sex ratio, the native-foreigner ratio and the persons per household as well as the variations within the group of governorates. Analyses of lower level data shall aid not only to understand the situation but also to support local development policies.

Components and public health impact of population growth in the Arab world.

The Arab world, which consists of the 22 member states of the Arab League, is undergoing a rapid transition in demographics, including fertility, mortality, and migration. Comprising a distinctive geographic region spread across West Asia and North East Africa and unified by the Arabic language, these states share common values and characteristics despite having diverse economic and political conditions. The demographic lag (high fertility and low mortality) that characterizes the Arab world is unique, but the present trend of declining fertility, combined with the relatively low mortality, brings about significant changes in its population size. This research aimed to: (i) assess the population growth in the Arab world over 3 time periods, (ii) explore its components, and (iii) understand its public health impact. Data from the International Data Base (IDB) of the U.S. Census Bureau for 3 time periods (1992, 2002, and 2012) in 21 countries of the Arab world were analyzed by dividing them into four geographic sectors, namely, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), West Asia, Maghreb, and the Nile Valley African Horn. The population of the Arab world has grown considerably due to both natural growth and migration. The immigration is pronounced, especially into resource-intensive GCC nations, not only from East Asian and Central African countries but also from resource-thrifty (limited-resource) Arab nations. The migrations within, as well as outside, the Arab world reveal an interesting demographic phenomenon that requires further research: migration flows and trends. However, the transformations in public health statistics related to mortality-the impact of demographic changes-depict a new era in the Arab world.

Population distribution and household conditions in Saudi Arabia: reflections from the 2010 Census.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the largest nation in the Arabian Peninsula is divided into 13 regions, which are of different development levels in terms of both population and public utility infrastructure. More than the other regions, population is high in Al-Riyadh, Makkah Al-Mokarramah, and the Eastern Region, due to urbanization. The current analysis of census results is aimed at understanding (i) regional variations in population and households and (ii) house ownership, type of housing, and housing infrastructure. Saudi Arabia's population is 26,090,555, living in 4,655,127 households with higher concentration in Al-Riyadh, Makkah Al-Mokarramah, and the Eastern Region. One-fourth of the households are in Makkah Al-Mokarrammah while another one-fourth in Al-Riyadh. Households are small with 6 persons in each. The proportion of households in own houses is less than half - mostly Saudi households. Households in the Kingdom live in apartments, traditional houses, villas or floor in a villa with differing proportions across regions and between Saudi and non-Saudi. While apartments are the major type of housing (major regions), traditional houses (Jazan, Al-Baha, Hail, and Aseer regions) and villas (Al-Riyadh region) still exist that are built by concrete (less than four-fifths), block/brick (less than one-fifth), mud (rare), and stone (rare) with varying regional proportions. Infrastructure - electricity, water, and sewage - vary across regions. The major source of electricity is public station followed by private station and private generators. Water source is mainly the public water inside the pipe unit but catchment tank water and well water are used. Three types of sewage system are prevalent in the Kingdom - public sewage, ditch sewage, and private sewage. An inequitable distribution of population across regions shows urbanization, causing an emergence of the modern housing sector influencing house ownership. Developed regions have less ownership, more rentals and office quarters, thus, presuming that development level and migration status are driving house ownership. The impact of infrastructural variations is difficult to interpret as such variations affect the interest of the public sector and customers. A lesser dependence on the public sector requires caution when assessing the situation and when creating policies and provisions to improve quality of life.