The impact of crisis and disasters risk management in COVID-19 times: Insights and lessons learned from Saudi Arabia

Background

All countries all over the world strive to fight the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and their governments are facing unprecedented strains and challenges. Since COVID-19 has engendered socioeconomic recession and the deterioration of health systems, Insights and lessons from some countries can illustrate various approaches designing their people-centric health and socioeconomic policies. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has implemented various measures and strategies to mitigate the spread of pandemic and to save the lives of people. Therefore, we investigate the role of the Saudi disaster risk reduction system (DRRS) to fight the virus outbreak and provide a safe environment for the well-being of its inhabitants.

Methodology

We use a qualitative case study methodology to document and analyze the crisis and disasters risk management framework within the hazard management process. The case study methodology is suitable in investigating a phenomenon in its real-life settings and contexts. Thus, we outline lessons learned from Saudi disaster risk management experience in combating COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

During COVID-19 disaster, we found that the Saudi disaster risk reduction system (DRRS) is structured into three main levels: strategic, operational and tactical. The strategic level represents the strategic planning division and runs audit and monitoring of overall decentralized units of crisis management at operational and tactical levels. The findings show that there are three policy implications: keep vigilance at the public national level, remaining flexible in a national management structure and good governance at local administration level.

Conclusion

The application of disaster risk reduction framework in COVID-19 times requires the use of multi-level strategies to protect vulnerable peoples during the four stages of mitigation (readiness), preparedness, response (implementation) and recovery (post-COVID).

Choosing which COVID-19 patient to save? The ethical triage and rationing dilemma

Killing someone directly is never morally right, but sometimes, choosing someone to save and leaving another to die is. The moral philosophy, law, and medical ethics have all wrestled with the problem of distinguishing between saving someone and leaving another to die. While this distinction might seem intuitively straightforward, it becomes far more complex when applied in treating patients of novel Coronavirus Disease pandemic (COVID-19). The World Health Organization reports more than eight million and half cases of infection and more than 450,000 deaths, 26% in USA. However, with the exponential rise in number of COVID-19 victims and the shortage of life-saving ventilators, the pandemic has imposed to health professionals an ethical medical triage decision-making based on the utilitarian theory to maximize total benefits and life expectancy. Moreover, the decision to put restrictions on treatment beneficence is not discretionary, but an indispensable response to the overwhelming impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. The main concern is not whether to underline priorities, but how to do so systematically and ethically, instead of building decisions on individualized institutional aspirations or health professionals' intuition. The serious glaring disequilibrium, in healthcare market, between supply and demand for scarce medical resources in several developed nations (including the USA, UK, France, Italy, Spain, etc.) imposes a fundamental question: which COVID-19 patient to save when facing scarce resources?

A comparative study on chemical composition, antibiofilm and biological activities of leaves extracts of four Tunisian olive cultivars

Olea europaea L. is one of the most important fruit trees in Tunisia because of its content of many potentially bioactive compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition, antibiofilm, antiradical and acethylcholinesterase inhibitory activities from four Tunisian cultivars of Olea europaea L., i.e. ‘Chetoui’, ‘Meski’, ‘Oueslati’ and ‘Jarboui’. By means of standardized methods, total phenols were determined and some of them characterized by HPLC. The total phenols and flavonoids contents were found to be the highest in the leaves of Chetoui cultivar. The Chetoui cultivar exhibited an important antioxidant and anticholinesterasic activity and an important anti-biofilm activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans, Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli, with percentages of inhibition comprised between 83 and 93% at 2xMIC values. Olive leaves extracts could be used in the control of bacterial biofilms in food and food-related environments.