Open Access

ARTICLE

Estimating the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Research Community in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Attaallah¹, Masood Ahmad², Adil Hussain Seh², Alka Agrawal², Rajeev Kumar^2,3,*, Raees Ahmad Khan²
1 Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia
2 Department of Information Technology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, 226025, India
3 Department of Computer Application, Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Barabanki, 225003, India
* Corresponding Author: Rajeev Kumar. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Computer Modelling of Transmission, Spread, Control and Diagnosis of COVID-19)

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2021, 126(1), 419-436. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2021.014263

Received 14 September 2020; Accepted 26 November 2020; Issue published 22 December 2020

Abstract

Ever since its outbreak in Wuhan, COVID-19 has cloaked the entire world in a pall of despondency and uncertainty. The present study describes the exploratory analysis of all COVID cases in Saudi Arabia. Besides, the study has executed the forecasting model for predicting the possible number of COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia till a defined period. Towards this intent, the study analyzed different age groups of patients (child, adult, elderly) who were affected by COVID-19. The analysis was done city-wise and also included the number of recoveries recorded in different cities. Furthermore, the study also discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. For conducting the stated analysis, the authors have created a list of factors that are known to cause the spread of COVID-19. As an effective countermeasure to contain the spread of Coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, this study also proposes to identify the most effective Computer Science technique that can be used by healthcare professionals. For this, the study employs the Fuzzy-Analytic Hierarchy Process integrated with the Technique for Order Performance by Similar to Ideal Solution (F.AHP.TOPSIS). After prioritizing the various Computer Science techniques, the ranking order that was obtained for the different techniques/tools to contain COVID-19 was: A4 > A1 > A2 > A5 > A3. Since the Blockchain technique obtained the highest priority, the study recommends that it must be used extensively as an efficacious and accurate means to combat COVID-19.

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Keywords

Coronavirus; social impact; safety; precautions; fuzzy-AHP.TOPSIS; block-chain technique; COVID-19 monitoring

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