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Young Saudis See Paths Changed by COVID-19

Nada Alturki

   Ethar Fahad, a young legal specialist in Saudi Arabia, was dumbfounded
   when COVID-19 infected her family.

   "I didn't believe it at first," said the 26-year-old, whose mother and
   sister caught it before she did and all fell seriously ill with the
   fever and lethargy, the standard symptoms of COVID. "We were joking
   around about it ... but then we started to fall down, one after the
   other."

   Saudi Arabia shut quickly and broadly in April in a nationwide
   lockdown. Only essential businesses were open, and citizens were
   prohibited from going beyond their neighborhoods.

   "We felt very uncomfortable at first. We were very upset," Fahad said
   about the isolation and lockdown. "We couldn't really handle it anymore
   after three or four months. It was too much."

   In late June, a 24-hour curfew was lifted, and residents were allowed
   out of their homes only between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
   The number of confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia since the virus first
   spread to the country is at 358,102, with 5,930 deaths to date,
   according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins
   University.

   But cases receded, and the country has reopened to citizens slowly in
   phases since June.

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