Saudi Arabian authorities started this week using a steroid to treat severe coronavirus cases after the drug was hailed as effective in the UK, despite scepticism in the US.
The health ministry said on Wednesday that use of dexamethasone has started in “hospitalised patients and those in intensive care units, and the ones on oxygen”.
Daily confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia exceeded 4,000 for the fifth straight day on Thursday, with the health ministry announcing 4,757 new cases in the last 24 hours and 48 deaths.
The latest data brings the official infections tally to 145,991 with 1,139 deaths.
Saudi authorities have been cautioning that the number of people in critical condition in the Kingdom also rose sharply in the past few weeks to 1,877.
Oxford University said this week that a study it conducted showed that the anti-inflammatory drug reduced death rates by about a third among the most severe patients in hospitals.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “he chances of dying from Covid-19 "have been greatly reduced by this treatment".
But some prominent doctors in the US were sceptical about dexamethasone, saying they needed to see the raw data.
They pointed to The Lancet, the leading British medical journal, which withdrew this month an article about a study on hydroxychloroquine and the coronavirus over defects in the data.
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
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Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
