COVID-19: How GCC has battled the coronavirus
Most expats who were infected may not have got same level of care in their home countries
Dubai: The insidious COVID-19 pandemic that has raged since the beginning of the year has claimed more than 372,000 lives worldwide, and infected 6.2 million people. Every geographical area has been impacted, and the Gulf is no exception.
The GCC states, with their sophisticated market economies, open movement of people, world class airlines and airports, and their exposure to globalisation, were always going to be more susceptible to such pandemics than other, less developed economies in the region.
The number of coronavirus cases in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region stands at least 420,000, with about 11,000 deaths. The Gulf states account for a little more than half of these infections (52.5 per cent). But despite this, COVID-19 deaths in the Gulf amount to just about 10 per cent of the total deaths in the Middle East (about 1,125). Saudi Arabia, by far the largest country in the Gulf, has confirmed about 85,000 COVID-19, and 525 deaths (roughly half of the GCC total).
Tailored approach
True to form, Gulf states have pulled all stops in a structured manner in their attempt to combat the disease. Every GCC country had shut down schools, colleges, and universities by mid-March, followed by non-essential businesses. Individual nations tailored approaches to their specific needs, with some able to re-open shops and other essential facilities at an earlier stage than others. Saudi Arabia – home to Islam’s two holiest sites and the scene of the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages - banned foreign visits to Mecca before any cases were recorded.
Meanwhile, the UAE emerged as a leader not only in the GCC but also in the world when it comes to testing people for COVID-19, with more than 20 per cent of residents being tested, by far the greatest percentage of testing globally.
World-class medical and recuperative care
A feature of the spread of the virus in the GCC is that it seems to have impacted expats more than citizens. To their credit, Gulf states have provided world-class medical and recuperative care at great expense to all residents who have been infected, regardless of nationality. It is commonly acknowledged that most of these expats could not have got such care in their home countries.
Some of these measures have been painful from the socio-economic perspective but GCC governments were left with no choice but to implement them for the greater good. Owing to differences in their wealth and the structure of their economies, some Gulf states have been able to better respond to the crisis than others.
The World Health Organisation praised the Gulf states for their response, with regional director Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari saying: “I feel happy about what has been done. A lot of states, for example, Gulf countries, they have from day one started preparing their system at points of entry in the airports or other points of entry to their country.”