Chapter 1: The Pandemic Effects on Human Capital Development: An Introduction -- Part 1: The Impact of COVID-19 on Health -- Chapter 2: Epidemiological Characteristics of Hospitalized Patients with Moderate versus Severe COVID-19 Infection: A Retrospective Cohort Single Centre Study -- Chapter 3: Assessment of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on health services utilization in Oman: a cross-sectional study -- Chapter 4: Administrative Responsibility of the Health Institution considering the Covid-19 Pandemic -- Chapter 5: Understanding the Effectiveness of Stringent Governmental Policies Against Mortality Rates in the Case Study of COVID-19: A Comparison of Twenty-Two Countries -- Chapter 6: Social Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Arab World: The Trinity of Education, Health, and social interaction -- Chapter 7: Socioeconomic, Environmental, Health and Psychological Aspects of Covid-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learnt and Future Directions -- Part 2: The Impact of COVID-19 on Education -- Chapter 8: How is COVID-19 Re-Shaping Medical Education? -- Chapter 9: The Impact of Covid-19 on Visitor’s Footfall at National Science Centre, New Delhi - An Educational Resource -- Chapter 10: Digital Readiness and Higher Education Students’ Socio-Emotional Perceptions: The Mediation of Perceived Stress in the Context of COVID-19 -- Chapter 11: The Level of Early Awareness of The Pandemic Effects Among Arab Students in Turkey: A Qualitative Study -- Chapter 12: Toward a Teaching Model of the Entrepreneurship Course in Oman Using the Design Thinking Approach: The Inspiring COVID-19 Experience for Better Online Teaching -- Chapter 13: Students' Perceptions of Emergency Remote Teaching During Covid-19: The Case of Sultan Qaboos University -- Chapter 14: Learning Loss in Lockdown: Impact of Covid-19 on Schooling in India -- Chapter 15: The Prospect of Human Capital Development in Post-Pandemic.

This book examines human capital development in the Middle East. It focuses on the investment in human capabilities, namely education and health, the two most critical components of growth and development. The book assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare sector, with particular attention paid to effectiveness of public health policies and services, health expenditure, mortality rates, and psychological effects of the pandemic on the wider society. It also evaluates the pandemic effects on the education sector, more specifically medical education, physical education, emotional effects on students and teachers, method of communications, learning and teaching, and the extent to which digital readiness has minimized these effects. The book reveals the severity of the pandemic on human capabilities in terms of loss of lives, illness, vaccinations, knowledge acquisitions, skills development, and productivity, while providing new insights for governments to deal with similar crises in the future. It uses a variety of research methods and quantitative and qualitative techniques, country case studies, and primary data collected through survey questionnaires, interviews, and official reports to analyse the impact of the pandemic on health and education. The analyses are supported by statistical data and illustrated by tables and figures. Readers, students, researchers, industry practitioners and policy makers will benefit from the new insights offered by a diverse group of 40 professors, researchers, and industry experts from across the Middle East and beyond. Ashraf Mishrif is the founding chair of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Research Chair for Economic Studies, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Prior to that he was Associate Professor at King’s College London and taught at several universities in the United Kingdom and the Gulf countries. He also served as Cultural Advisor for the Egyptian Embassy Cultural Bureau in London, Managing Director of the London-based consulting firm EU-Med International, and industrial development consultant, UNIDO, Vienna. He is an expert in economic development and the political economy of the Middle East and has authored more than 90 books, chapters, and peer-reviewed papers, including two volumes on economic diversification and nationalization of the labour market in the GCC. .