Effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions in the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in Saudi Arabia.

ABSTRACT: Non-pharmaceutical interventions have been widely employed to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Their associated effect on SARS-CoV-2 transmission have however been unequally studied across regions. Few studies have focused on the Gulf states despite their potential role for global pandemic spread, in particular in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through religious pilgrimages. We study the association between NPIs and SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the first pandemic wave between March and October 2020. We infer associations between NPIs introduction and lifting through a spatial SEIR-type model that allows for inferences of region-specific changes in transmission intensity. We find that reductions in transmission were associated with NPIs implemented shortly after

SUBMITTER: Perez-Saez J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10021433 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature