Analyzing the implications of covid-19 pandemic: Saudi arabian perspective

Abstract

Most of the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pandemic usually suffer from mild-to-serious respiratory illness and become stable without any specific care. In fact, in some countries like India the mortality rate is as low. Those who are amongst the most vulnerable groups are the elderly and the ones with chronic ailments like diabetes, heart ailments, and respiratory ailments. However, apart from the impact on the physical health of the patients, this disease has had a more debilitating affect on the mental as well as emotional well-being of the people. Due to continuous watching and protection programs to fight the pandemic, people have been forced into isolation for months and follow social distancing norms without any group interactions. With minimal human-to-human contact and almost no group activities, people are battling with issues of angst, fear and uncertainty. The pandemic has shoved the entire planet into an unstable state. Moreover, the living conditions of everyone have become similar. This research work estimates the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on different aspects of Saudi Arabia’s research society. The impact has been evaluated in two dimensions: the early approach, and the late approach of COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent effects in different areas of the research society of Saudi Arabia. In this analysis, we have applied the integrated fuzzy based ANP-TOPSIS approach to evaluate the COVID-19 impact on different aspects of human life. Hence, our study is an attempt to engage the attention of both the government and the policymakers to strategise for an expeditious planning and implementation of measures that will ease the financial duress of the individuals and people of Saudi Arabia.