Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah: A Report on Stakeholder’s Opinions
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- (1)
- To investigate the necessity of the emergency management of the KAU for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- (2)
- To evaluate the academic affairs and facilities provided to stakeholders.
- (3)
- To determine the local community involvement in the integrated management approach.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Quantitative Data Collection
2.2.2. Qualitative Data Collection
2.2.3. Summarizing the Data
3. Results
- (i)
- Closing all classrooms and training rooms and using digital media technology;
- (ii)
- Forming a committee to determine the conditions of the quarantine buildings;
- (iii)
- Asking the health promotion center to make leaflets to raise awareness of COVID-19;
- (iv)
- Recommending the establishment of an annex building to the university hospital for respiratory diseases;
- (v)
- Sending educational messages via mobile phones to all university stakeholders.
3.1. Respondent’s Profile
3.2. Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic by the KAU Administration
- (1)
- Vice President for Projects;
- (2)
- Dean of Information Technology;
- (3)
- Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University Hospital;
- (4)
- Director of the University Medical Services Center;
- (5)
- Director of the Health Promotion Center;
- (6)
- General Supervisor of Project Management at the University;
- (7)
- General Supervisor of the General Administration of Studies and Designs;
- (8)
- Supervisor of the Operation and Maintenance Sector;
- (9)
- Director of the Security Department;
- (10)
- Director of the University’s Emergency and Disaster Center.
- (i)
- Onsite monitoring of personnel temperature entering the facility at any time. If the thermometer alarm beeped due to a high temperature, these personnel had to return home and were not allowed to enter until they were tested and showed negative results for COVID-19;
- (ii)
- Employees/personnel with any COVID-19 symptoms were encouraged to stay home and not come into contact with others;
- (iii)
- Safety signs were everywhere at the facility;
- (iv)
- An awareness campaign was conducted through announcements, text messages, emails, etc.;
- (v)
- The KAU stakeholders were required to wear masks at all times.
- (vi)
- After resumption of the campuses under the “new normal” situation, the university was assured of the availability of vaccines for all stakeholders of the KAU, and no one was allowed to attend without receiving their first dose of a recognized vaccine.
- (vii)
- The university launched a dedicated vaccination center for the staff, students, and faculty members of the KAU.
3.3. Performance of Academic Affairs of the KAU during COVID-19
3.4. Students’ Satisfaction with Learning and Facilities from the KAU during the COVID-19 Pandemic
3.5. Community Involvement and Assistance for the Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
4. Discussion
5. Recommendations
- (i)
- Community involvement in the management system is essential for a community-spreading pandemic such as COVID-19.
- (ii)
- Uninterrupted and smooth Internet supply is most important in ensuring virtual communication including academic and precautionary action information.
- (iii)
- The King Abdulaziz University should continue to provide support to students and faculty members.
- (iv)
- Online medical service/clinical booking should be continued.
- (v)
- The Tawakkalna App supplied by the Saudi Arabian government for tracking the information and location of citizens is very useful for controlling people’s movement.
6. Limitations
7. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Sl. No. | Name of the Country | Total Cases | Total Deaths | Date of First Confirmed Case |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Iran | 7,559,526 | 144,633 | 19 February |
2 | Iraq | 2,463,021 | 25,363 | 24 February |
3 | Jordan | 1,746,997 | 14,122 | 2 March |
4 | Morocco | 1,268,295 | 16,284 | 3 March |
5 | Lebanon | 1,220,385 | 10,734 | 22 February |
6 | Tunisia | 1,146,991 | 29,268 | 2 March |
7 | UAE | 1,043,798 | 2348 | 29 January |
8 | Saudi Arabia | 825,402 | 9457 | 2 March |
9 | Kuwait | 662,672 | 2570 | 26 February |
10 | Palestine | 620,816 | 5404 | 5 March |
11 | Libya | 507,078 | 6437 | 25 March |
12 | Oman | 399,027 | 4260 | 24 February |
13 | Egypt | 515,645 | 24,613 | 14 February |
14 | Bahrain | 695,766 | 1536 | 29 January |
15 | Qatar | 477,420 | 685 | 29 February |
16 | Algeria | 271,061 | 6881 | 25 February |
17 | Sudan | 63,637 | 4990 | 13 March |
18 | Syria | 57,393 | 3163 | 23 March |
19 | Somalia | 27,254 | 1361 | 16 March |
20 | Yemen | 11,945 | 2159 | 10 April |
Respondent Profile | Living Status | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Officials | Faculty Members | Students | Family | Single | |
Frequency | 50 | 75 | 225 | 215 | 1350 |
% Frequency | 14.28 | 21.42 | 64.28 | 61.42 | 38.57 |
Total sample (n) | 350 |
Question | Yes n (%) | No n (%) | Partial n (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Q1. Has emergency management been assigned to respond to COVID-19 | 49 (98) | 2 (1) | - |
Q2. Has COVID-19 impacted university study in the KAU? | 33 (66) | 23 (6) | 10 (20) |
Q3. Did you change university study plans for the KAU due to COVID-19? | 30 (60) | 2 (4) | 18 (36) |
Q4. Would you be interested in continuing studies using an online platform? | 32 (64) | 7 (14) | 21 (22) |
Q5. Have you physically attended the university premises during the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to emergency services? | 7 (14) | 36 (72) | 7 (14) |
Q6. Are you likely to continue with the emergency management plan in place right now after the pandemic is over? | 28 (56) | 8 (16) | 14 (28) |
Percentage of Students in Attendance | No. of Respondents (n) | % Frequency |
---|---|---|
<50% | 8 | 10.67 |
>75% | 42 | 56 |
50% | 25 | 33.33 |
Facilities | Total No. of Responses (n) | % Frequency |
---|---|---|
Emergency health/medical services | 3 | 0.88 |
Free food and other supplies | 15 | 6.66 |
Online study | 17 | 7.55 |
Option to postpone semester | 10 | 4.44 |
Awareness program | 25 | 11.11 |
Option to go back home country for international students | 3 | 0.88 |
Financial support | - | - |
All of the above | 157 | 69.77 |
Responses | Yes | No | Partial |
---|---|---|---|
No. of respondents | 150 | 10 | 65 |
% | 66.66 | 4.44 | 28.88 |
Total respondents | 179 |
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Share and Cite
Aloufi, F.A.; Taleb, M.A.; Halawani, R.F.; Tammar, A.; Mahmood, S.; Rahaman, K.R. Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah: A Report on Stakeholder’s Opinions. Sustainability 2023, 15, 2432. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032432
Aloufi FA, Taleb MA, Halawani RF, Tammar A, Mahmood S, Rahaman KR. Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah: A Report on Stakeholder’s Opinions. Sustainability. 2023; 15(3):2432. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032432
Chicago/Turabian StyleAloufi, Fahed A., Md. Abu Taleb, Riyadh F. Halawani, Abdurazag Tammar, Shreef Mahmood, and Khan Rubayet Rahaman. 2023. "Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah: A Report on Stakeholder’s Opinions" Sustainability 15, no. 3: 2432. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032432
APA StyleAloufi, F. A., Taleb, M. A., Halawani, R. F., Tammar, A., Mahmood, S., & Rahaman, K. R. (2023). Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah: A Report on Stakeholder’s Opinions. Sustainability, 15(3), 2432. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032432