Abstract
Objectives: To summarize the outcomes of the coronavirus disease 2019 infections in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) in the first 4 months of the pandemic.
Methods: A meta-analysis approach was used in this context. We used the aggregate data from the World Health Organization Regional Office for the EMRO (until 26 May 2020) to generate this report.
Results: An analysis of official data from all 22 countries and territories in the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia K=22 (a total of 438,717 cases) was performed. The total number of cases, recovered cases were 438,717,228,986, and deaths was 11,290 in the EMR. Meta-analytic pooling of the point estimates of recovery rate per country in the EMR was 52.5% (95% CI 52.3% - 52.6%). The lowest recovery rates were in Somalia (4.3%), and the highest rates were in Tunisia (87.4%). Meta-analytic pooling of the point estimates of death rate per country in the EMR yielded 3.85% [95% CI 3.80% - 3.9%]. Meta-analytic pooling of the point estimates of recovery rate per country in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries was 46.1% (95% CI 45.8% - 46.3%). Meta-analytic pooling of the point estimates of death rate per country in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries was 0.6% (95% CI 0.50% – 0.65%).
Conclusion: Wide variability was found between EMR countries in recovery and mortality, implying the possible impact of resource availability, and genetic and environmental factors on the morality and recovery of the COVID-19.
Footnotes
Disclosure. Authors have no conflict of interests, and the work was not supported or funded by any drug company. This work was supported by the Strategic Technologies Program of the National Plan for Sciences and Technology and Innovation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (MED511-02-08). The study sponsors played no role in tailoring the study design, collection of data, analysis or interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript, nor decision to submit the manuscript.
- Received May 28, 2020.
- Accepted August 9, 2020.
- Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal
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