Riyadh – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are ranked in the list of top 20 safest countries in the world in terms of regional safety and stability during the coronavirus crisis, according to a research concluded by Hong Kong-based Deep Knowledge Group.
According to Deep Knowledge’s COVID-19 Safety Assessment research, UAE ranked 11th and Saudi Arabia ranked 17th, which makes them stand in the Tier-1 category of 20 countries that stood firm during the pandemic situation.
The research is substantial and concrete which is based on 130 parameters, and is compiled into a 250-pages book.
“COVID-19 Safety Ranking” of the research shows Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Singapore, and Japan as the top five safest countries.
COVID-19 Regional Resiliency
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stood number one, while UAE stood at third position in the list of regional resiliency ranking, which is based on a country’s demography, geopolitical stability, and societal discipline. It shows a country’s capacity to adapt and thrive under adverse conditions.
Emergency Preparedness Index
In terms of emergency preparedness index, Saudi Arabia stood seventh while UAE stood second after China. The index considers a country’s ability to deal with emergency situations with military mobilization experience and the level of societal emergency resilience that includes the level of preparedness dealing with psychological, cultural and religious practices and attitudes.
Monitoring and Detection Index
Saudi Arabia stood at 19th position while UAE stood third in the monitoring and detection index, which shows a country’s efficiency in testing coronavirus and keeping the data transparent.
However, Iran stood at 100th position due to the international skepticism it drew for hiding the official coronavirus numbers.
Measures taken by Saudi Arabia and UAE
According to Al-Arabiya report, Saudi Arabia has so far conducted over 1 million tests for coronavirus and has reported 161,005 cases in its population of approximately 33 million.
Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries in the middle-east region to close its borders as soon as the reports of coronavirus outbreak started. The major Umrah pilgrimage has been suspended since 27th February, and pilgrims are stopped from entering the two holy cities of Makkah and Madina.
In the last week of May, the Saudi Health Ministry announced that Kingdom would begin a new phase of its strategy to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and the authorities will build a healthcare system to deal with critical cases, which will have more testing and early detection.
On the other hand, UAE has conducted over three million coronavirus tests, the highest globally in terms of COVID-19 screening per capita, according UAE Health Ministry.
UAE Health authorities developed an app called TraceCovid to help trace the people who got into close proximity with the coronavirus patients. Apart from that, smart wristbands have also be introduced to track and monitor the coronavirus patients who may need self-isolation.
