Introduction:The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a single-chain ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus. As of March 25, 2021, the total number of positive cases and fatalities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) had reached 386,300 and 6624, respectively, with a case fatality rate of 1.71%. The KSA was among the leading nations to heed the advice of WHO officials and put strict precautionary and preventive measures in place to curb the early spread of COVID-19 before it was declared a global pandemic. Methodology: This was an uncontrolled before-after study following a mixed-method approach for data collection. National and regional data were extracted from the Health Electronic Surveillance Network (HESN), a centralized public health collection system for quantitative and statistical data. Quantitative and qualitative methods have been utilized in studying data derived from tech media. Results: The Saudi authorities utilized different technological tools to aid in managing and combating the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of Al Madinah Al Mounawarah, after the implementation of several technologies, the most important being Tawakkalna, the number of active daily cases decreased by 61%. Conclusion:The use of the Tawakkalna application was proven to be a successful method in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in the KSA. This vital and essential experience warrants the use of different digital technology that offers a personalized profile displaying the person's status (affected, vaccinated, or no history of infection). This application played and will continue to play a crucial and effective role in pandemic containment in Saudi Arabia.

The Hajj mass gathering is attended by over two million Muslims each year, many of whom are elderly and have underlying health conditions. Data on the number of pilgrims with health conditions would assist public health planning and improve health services delivery at the event. We carried out a systematic review of literature based on structured search in the MEDLINE/PubMed, SCOPUS and CINAHL databases, and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, to estimate the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension among Hajj pilgrims. Twenty-six studies conducted between 1993 and 2018 with a total of 285,467 participants were included in the review. The weighted pooled prevalence rates of hypertension and diabetes among Hajj pilgrims in all included studies were 12.2% (95% CI: 12.0–12.3) and 5.0% (95% CI: 4.9–5.1), respectively. The reported prevalence of other underlying health conditions such as chronic respiratory, kidney or liver disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer and immune deficiency were generally low. Potentially a large number of pilgrims each Hajj have diabetes and/or hypertension and other underlying health conditions. Hajj could be a great opportunity to reduce the burden of these diseases within the over 180 countries participating in the event by identifying undiagnosed cases and optimizing patients’ knowledge and management of their conditions. Prospero registration number: CRD42020171082.

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Purpose: To investigate knowledge, attitude, and perceived risks towards COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Saudi Arabia. Besides, the impact of risk communication strategy on the attitude and practice of HCWs was investigated. Patients and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study that targeted HCWs from various Saudi health facilities. We utilized a self-administrated, online-based questionnaire designed to assess basic knowledge of COVID-19, attitude and disease perception, and the impact of risk communication messages among HCWs. Results: A total of 1691 responses were received in the study. The HCWs exhibited good levels of knowledge (total maximum score is 1) of COVID-19 concerning the modes of transportation of COVID-19 (0.82±0.16), sample collection method for COVID-19 diagnosis (0.98±0.08), transmission of infection from asymptomatic individuals (0.99±0.11), and that antibiotics are not effective against the new COVID-19 (0.83±0.38). Nearly onethird of the participants considered a high/very high possibility of acquiring COVID-19 infection. HCWs had good attitude scores concerning their willingness to deal with new COVID-19 patients (0.87±0.33) and their beliefs in being educated on COVID-19 (0.99 ±0.11). Almost all participants strongly agree/agree that it is important to take action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within healthcare facilities and received health information messages. Notably, 93.4% of the participants stated that the received messages changed their attitude towards COVID-19 and its preventive measures. Good knowledge scores were significantly associated with age > 49 years old, higher educational level, and physician occupation. Similarly, good attitude scores were higher among males, HCWs aged 40-49 years old, non-Saudi nationals, and physician and nurse occupations. Conclusion:HCWs have fair knowledge and attitude towards the COVID-19 pandemic. The risk communication is an effective strategy to improve the attitude and practice of HCWs towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

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