The COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case in the kingdom was confirmed by the Ministry of Health on 2 March 2020 and in the following months, the kingdom held the highest number of confirmed cases in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
The kingdom announced the suspension of all domestic and international travel on March 21; domestic travel was reinitiated on May 21. After curfews and lockdowns were placed on several administrative levels, the number of daily confirmed cases shrunk dramatically and by June 21, all curfews were lifted through a three-phase program enacted throughout the country, except the city of Mecca. By mid-July, the kingdom was seeing more daily recoveries than cases. The Hajj took place with only 10,000 socially-distanced pilgrims allowed to take part in the annual pilgrimage, which fell during the last week of July and the first week of August.
The economy of Saudi Arabia also suffered a heavy impact; a budget deficit of 9 billion US dollars was reported in the first quarter of 2020 caused by the decline in oil prices and the economic effects of the pandemic. Several measures were taken to help stimulate the economy, including increasing the value-added tax from 5% to 15%, effective 1 July, and cutting spending by 100 billion riyals (). As of September 7, the kingdom has seen a little over 320,000 confirmed cases with more than 4,000 deaths attributed to the virus, and international air travel is still suspended. A budget deficit of 40.768 billion riyals was posted by the government in its third quarter of 2020, which was reportedly more than half of the deficit calculated in the previous quarter. The change in figures resulted following the spike in non-oil revenue, which kicked off a continued fall in oil income. The economy is said to further shrink by 3.8% in the remaining months of 2020, as per government estimates due to the impact of coronavirus crisis on the global demand for crude. Riyadh plans to cut down on its spending in 2021 to 990 billion riyals.
Background
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a group of people in the city of Wuhan, Hubei in China which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. Between 3 January 2020 and 14 April 2022, there were 752,188 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia with 9,062 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Timeline
March 2020
2 March: Saudi Arabia confirms its first case, a Saudi national returning from Iran via Bahrain. 23 March: King Salman issues an order restricting movement from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m on March throughout the kingdom. The total case count rises to 562. 24 March: 205 new cases bring the total in the kingdom to 767. A 51-year-old Afghan national in Madinah is reported to be the first casualty in the country. 26 March: The total number of confirmed cases surpasses 1,000. 29 March: The total number of confirmed cases rises to 1,453. King Salman orders all COVID-19 patients be treated free of charge, regardless of their legal status.
April–May 2020
8 April, A report by The New York Times suggests as many as 150 members of the Saudi royal family had tested positive. The total stands at 2,932. 14 April: The total number of confirmed cases surpasses 5,000. 20 April: The total number of confirmed cases surpasses 10,000. Saudi Health Minister Tawfig al-Rabiah says the increase in the number of cases was the result of active testing. 16 May: The total number of confirmed cases surpasses 50,000. 28 May: Saudi Arabia enters Phase 1 of re-opening with the goal of return to normalcy in all cities except Mecca by 21 June.
June–July 2020
7 June: The total number of confirmed cases surpasses 100,000. 21 June: All restrictions are dropped except for the enforcement of social distancing and mask-wearing throughout the kingdom. 3 July: A report by The Wall Street Journal suggests that dozens of US diplomats were planning to leave Saudi Arabia by the first week of July 2020, some fearing that the Saudi government may be underreporting coronavirus cases by thousands.
March 2021
In March 2021, the Saudi Ministry of Health reported that Saudi Arabia is witnessing a huge rise in the number of active and critical cases of COVID-19. Until March 19, the death toll has reached 6,596.