COVID-19-associated mortality across the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and how it compares to Europe: A comparative study
Authors: Rimawi Ahmad , Rimawi Asem 
Published: September 2021

Introduction: In late 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus, discovered in the city of Wuhan, China, was found to cause a disease later named coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19. In January 2020, COVID-19 first reached the Gulf region. Afterwards, the disease spread rapidly across the countries of the Gulf and the number of COVID-19 cases rose significantly. Now, more than a year later, there are only a limited number of studies regarding COVID-19 and its behavior in this region. In this article, we aim to assess the mortality caused by the disease in the Gulf region by calculating the Case Fatality Rates (CFR) for all of the Gulf Cooperation countries and comparing the results with those of Europe.

Methods: Data was obtained from the official statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO) from January to May 2020. From the data, the CFR was calculated for every Gulf and European country included in the study. Following the calculation, the results were compared and analyzed. To make our comparison more accurate, we added the total number of COVID-19 tests per 1000 population and the Health Access and Quality index for each individual country.

Results: CFRs in the Gulf region to May 12, 2020 were: United Arab Emirates (1.06%), Kuwait (0.69%), Saudi Arabia (0.62%), Oman (0.45%), Bahrain (0.15%), and Qatar (0.06%). Within Europe over the same time period, 10 countries had CFRs above 10%, with the majority above 3%.

Conclusions: Compared to Europe, the COVID-19 mortality rate in the Gulf region has been much lower. The difference in age groups between the Gulf region and Europe may be the most important factor, mainly due to a younger population and a smaller elderly demographic in the Gulf region. Although age is a strong factor for the lower CFR in the Gulf, other factors must also be considered. These include the number of COVID-19 tests conducted per population, different country capabilities, and varying criteria for reporting COVID-19 deaths()().
Table 1

Extracted from WHO Weekly Epidemiological Update and Weekly Operational Update on 12/5/2021.

Country

Total Cases

Total Deaths

Case Fatality Rate

Total Number of COVID-19 Tests per 1,000 People

Healthcare Access and Quality Index

Saudi Arabia
41,014
255
0.62%
19.89
79.4

United Arab Emirates
18,878
201
1.06%
186.34
72.2

Kuwait
9,286
65
0.69%
60.02
82

Qatar
23,623
14
0.06%
59.16
85.2

Bahrain
5,236
8
0.15%
150.23
79

Oman
3,721
17
0.45%
N/A
77.1

COVID-19 related data for individual Gulf countries. N = 6

Table 2

Extracted from WHO Weekly Epidemiological Update and Weekly Operational Update on 12/5/2021.

Country

Total Cases

Total Deaths

Case Fatality Rate

Total Number of COVID-19 Tests per 1,000 People

Healthcare Access and Quality Index

Spain
227,436
26,744
11.75%
47.51
89.6

Italy
219,814
30,739
13.98%
52.46
88.7

Germany
170,508
7,533
4.42%
43.35
86.4

United Kingdom
223,064
32,065
14.37%
35.55
84.6

France
137,491
26,600
19.35%
N/A
87.9

Belgium
53,449
8,707
16.29%
66.78
87.9

Netherlands
42,788
5,456
12.75%
17.53
89.5

Switzerland
26,670
3,256
12.2%
41.94
91.8

Portugal
27,679
1,144
4.13%
69.56
84.5

Ireland
23,135
1,467
6.34%
60.89
88.4

Austria
15,874
620
3.91%
42.15
88.2

Sweden
26,670
3,256
12.20%
N/A
90.5

Poland
16,326
811
4.97%
16.33
79.6

Romania
15,588
972
6.24%
17.28
74.4

Denmark
10,513
533
5.07%
86.84
85.7

Norway
8,106
224
2.76%
41.95
90.5

Czech Republic
8,176
282
3.45%
35.51
84.8

Serbia
10,176
218
2.14%
28.93
75.4

Belarus
23,906
135
0.56%
41.03
74.4

Ukraine
16,023
425
2.65%
5.68
72.7

Finland
5,984
271
4.53%
30.36
89.6

Luxembourg
3,888
101
2.60%
102.65
89.3

Republic of Moldova
4,995
179
3.58%
N/A
73.1

Greece
2,726
151
5.54%
13.38
87

Hungary
3,313
425
12.83%
14.77
79.6

Croatia
2,196
91
4.14%
13.89
81.6

Iceland
1,801
10
0.56%
170.5
93.6

Estonia
1,741
61
3.50%
55.57
81.4

Lithuania
1,485
50
3.36%
90.21
76.6

Slovenia
1,460
102
6.99%
35.05
87.4

Bosnia and Herzegovina
2,142
112
5.23%
N/A
78.2

North Macedonia
1,664
91
5.47%
10.93
76

Slovakia
1,457
26
1.78%
27.8
78.6

COVID-19 related data for individual European countries. N = 33