Analyzing the Implications of COVID-19 Pandemic through an Intelligent-Computing Technique

The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2 virus or COVID-19) disease was declared pandemic by the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. COVID-19 has already affectedmore than 211 nations. In such a bleak scenario, it becomes imperative to analyzeand identify those regions in Saudi Arabia that are at high risk. A preemptivestudy done in the context of predicting the possible COVID-19 hotspots wouldfacilitate in the implementation of prompt and targeted countermeasures againstSARS-CoV-2, thus saving many lives. Working towards this intent, the presentstudy adopts a decision making based methodology of simulation named Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi criteria decision making approach, forassessing the risk of COVID-19 in different regions of Saudi Arabia. AHP givesthe ability to measure the risks numerically. Moreover, numerical assessments arealways effective and easy to understand. Hence, this research endeavour employsFuzzy based computational method of decision making for its empirical analysis.Findings in the proposed paper suggest that Riyadh and Makkah are the mostsusceptible regions, implying that if sustained and focused preventive measuresare not introduced at the right juncture, the two cities could be the worst afflictedwith the infection. The results obtained through Fuzzy based computationalmethod of decision making are highly corroborative and would be very usefulfor categorizing and assessing the current COVID-19 situation in the Kingdomof Saudi Arabia. More specifically, identifying the cities that are likely to beCOVID-19 hotspots would help the country’s health and medical fraternity toreinforce intensive containment strategies to counter the ills of the pandemic insuch regions.