Is Saudi Arabia on the threshold of the second “Corona” wave?

          Al-Yami to {Middle East}: Respiratory viruses are active in the winter season ... and divergence helps to reduce them            
           
The news of the "second wave" is repeated globally, which raises questions in many countries, including Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, about whether they are near or lurking in the emerging "Corona" virus again, with the return of full life to normal, and with the decline in the number of daily infections. Similar to what happened in many countries, after returning to life, opening borders, airports, commercial activities, and making human gatherings available. 

And after a few weeks of declining injuries in some countries, they returned to record a second wave, more lethal than the first; Where specialists believe that the reasons revolve around a lack of commitment to precautionary measures, and not a mutation in the virus.

Today, Corona statistics in Saudi Arabia are at their lowest levels in months, specifically since the first weeks of the virus in the country, in early April. As the decrease in the number of injuries occurred at the beginning of last July, after they recorded their highest levels in mid-June, and this decrease in the number of injuries was accompanied by an easing of restrictions on some activities, such as opening borders for exceptional cases or permitting the performance of Umrah according to strict precautions, and others .

On the other hand, however, many activities are still suspended, with some sectors continuing to work and education “remotely”, in addition to some government agencies or companies that preferred to continue working “remotely” for a percentage of their employees, as a precaution to prevent any outbreaks.

These precautionary measures come in the context of the “cautious return” with which Saudi Arabia began its return to life last June, which is what Saudi Arabia has put in place since the first announcement of the return of some life activities, during which it stresses the importance of continuing with precautionary measures for all groups of society, and not being lenient in dealing with the virus. .

Dr. Sami Al-Yami, an assistant professor of internal, thoracic and pulmonary diseases, says that it was previously expected to decrease the number of cases, but it is still feared that an epidemic will spread with the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, which is the season for the spread of respiratory viruses and their ease of transmission, indicating the importance of preparing for the possibility The occurrence of another wave that may occur with the onset of winter, which coincides with the opening of international flights, and the return to schools, which may exacerbate the matter.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Al-Yami called for not to rush to return to schools before the end of the winter season, while everyone continues to adhere to preventive measures, indicating that there is a significant decrease in the spread of other respiratory viruses, such as colds and colds, due to divergence and precautionary measures.

Al-Yami pointed out that the Ministry of Health and the King Abdullah International Research Center are preparing to conduct advanced research on vaccines that have proven successful in the initial roles, expecting the beginning of the vaccine trial on a large segment of society within the next two months.

In a related context, Dr. Muhammad Al-Abd Al-Aali, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health, confirmed in a previous interview that Saudi Arabia developed the approach of “cautiously returning” to emphasize the importance of following preventive measures, indicating that the reasons that led to the recording of second waves in some countries are inaction and lack of Adherence to the precautionary measures, and confirmed that it has not recorded mutations of the virus globally.

The approach of returning with caution is evident through the decisions of the return of some activities in Saudi Arabia, which come with imposing new conditions to reduce the rates of risk, such as setting mandatory conditions in some facilities, requiring everyone to wear a muzzle, and activating electronic applications to help manage tens of thousands of requests virtually, to prevent Human gatherings, and reduce paperwork.

And from that, activating the application of “Umrah” to receive the requests of those who wish to perform Umrah and visit in Makkah and Madinah to grant permits to those who come to the Two Holy Mosques according to strict controls through several stages, in addition to the “Tawakolna” application, and many other applications.

Despite the occurrence of some human gatherings last week, the Ministry of Health expressed its concern about this and called for continued commitment to the precautionary measures, which confirms the role of society in preventing a second wave of the virus As the indicators of the second waves of the virus in many countries were associated with leniency and non-compliance with preventive measures.