Assessment of the Prevalence and Incidence of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

Hanan E Alyahyawi; Raed A Alharbi; Saleha Keder Alatawi; Waled A M Ahmed; Shaia S R Almalki

doi:10.2147/JMDH.S394038

Assessment of the Prevalence and Incidence of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

J Multidiscip Healthc. 2023 Jan 24:16:227-236. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S394038. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Hanan E Alyahyawi¹, Raed A Alharbi¹, Saleha Keder Alatawi², Waled A M Ahmed³, Shaia S R Almalki¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Albaha University, Al Bahah, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Optometry, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Albaha University, Al Bahah, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Albaha University, Al Bahah, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) is reported to have started in Wuhan City, Hebei Province, China. It has spread rapidly all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, having a severe health emergency. This new virus was named as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and now severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) based on previous practice and phylogenetic and taxonomic investigations. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the family of Coronaviridae, Betacoronavirus, Sarbecovirus subgenus, genome β. Throughout the COVID 19 pandemic, several strains of SARS-CoV-2 have been recognized around the world. The SARS-CoV-2 variants have caused significant morbidity and mortality worldwide and in Saudi Arabia as well. The rate at which COVID-19 spread across borders and affected countries has highlighted the significance of health care systems to nations and global operations. This review focuses on the origin, epidemiology, pathophysiology, transmission, and the impact of this disease, while highlighting the knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; incidence; prevalence; review.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for Research and Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia for funding this research work through the project number MOE- BU- 1- 2020.