COVID-19 Lockdown and the Impact on Mobility, Air Quality, and Utility Consumption: A Case Study from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Abdallah Shanableh,Mayyada Al Bardan,Mohamed Barakat A. Gibril,Saeed Al Mansoori,Khaled Hamad,Rami Al-Ruzouq,Mohamad Alhosani,Mohammed Hashem Stietiya,Mohamad Ali Khalil,Nezar Atalla Hammouri

doi:10.3390/su14031767

Abstract

This study presents an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on people’s mobility trends, air quality, and utility consumption in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Records of lockdown and subsequent easing measures, infection and vaccination rates, community mobility reports, remotely sensed and ground-based air quality data, and utility (electricity, water, and gas) consumption data were collected and analyzed in the study. The mobility trends reflected the stringency of the lockdown measures, increasing in the residential sector but decreasing in all other sectors. The data showed significant improvement in air quality corresponding to the lockdown measures in 2020 followed by gradual deterioration as the lockdown measures were eased. Electricity and water consumption increased in the residential sector during the lockdown; however, overall utility consumption did not show significant changes. The changes in mobility were correlated with the relevant air quality parameters, such as NO2, which in turn was highly correlated to O3. The study provides data and analysis to support future planning and response efforts in Sharjah. Furthermore, the methodology used in the study can be applied to assess the impacts of COVID-19 or similar events on people’s mobility, air quality and utility consumption at other geographical locations.

Highlights

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic and encouraged countries to take appropriate measures to mitigate its spread [1]
We evaluated the consumption of utilities in Sharjah before and during the pandemic across four consumption categories: residential, industrial, governmental, and commercial
The analysis revealed that: (i) the changes in the mobility data reflected the safety measures and public holidays that occurred in Sharjah; (ii) mobility in the parks sector was the most affected while the grocery and pharmacy sector was the least affected; (iii) by March 2021, most of the officially imposed restrictions were lifted, but the mobility remained below the baseline values before the lockdown in February 2020, except for in the retail and recreation and grocery and pharmacy sectors; (iv) the nighttime travel restriction program starting 26 March 2020 (i.e., SP4) led to a significant decrease in mobility across all sectors, except for the residential sector, which recorded the highest increase in its mobility during the program

Summary

Introduction

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic and encouraged countries to take appropriate measures to mitigate its spread [1]. This outbreak and escalation of confirmed infection cases forced governments to apply stringent safety protocols and precautionary measures during the early stages of the pandemic, and many establishments were temporarily closed [2–5]. Other studies have attempted to link people’s mobility to the spread of the virus. Wang et al [17] investigated how restricting people’s mobility affected the spread of COVID-19 in Australia.

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Conclusion