Saudi Arabia to pay families of health care workers who died from COVID-19

Oct 28, 2020

Saudi Arabia will compensate the families of health care workers who died from COVID-19, the official Saudi Press Agency reported Tuesday.

“An amount of 500,000 riyals ($133,000) will be disbursed to the families of the deceased due to the coronavirus pandemic, working in the government or private health sector, whether civilian or military, and whether Saudi or non-Saudi,” read a statement from the Saudi Cabinet.

The sum will be paid to families of both Saudis and expats whose loved ones provided care in the public or private sectors. The payouts cover health care workers who died between March 2 — when the kingdom recorded its first case of COVID-19 — and the present.

Saudi Arabia is among the worst-hit countries in the region, but the kingdom’s infection rate has slowed dramatically since reporting nearly 5,000 cases in a single day in June.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health confirmed an additional 416 cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 346,047. The death toll in Saudi Arabia has reached 5,348.