Distribution of COVID-19 Morbidity Rate in Association with Social and Economic Factors in Wuhan, China: Implications for Urban Development.

Heyuan You,Xin Wu,Xuxu Guo

doi:10.3390/ijerph17103417

Abstract

Social and economic factors relate to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. The purpose of this paper was to assess the distribution of COVID-19 morbidity rate in association with social and economic factors and discuss the implications for urban development that help to control infectious diseases. This study was a cross-sectional study. In this study, social and economic factors were classified into three dimensions: built environment, economic activities, and public service status. The method applied in this study was the spatial regression analysis. In the 13 districts in Wuhan, the spatial regression analysis was applied. The results showed that: 1) increasing population density, construction land area proportion, value-added of tertiary industry per unit of land area, total retail sales of consumer goods per unit of land area, public green space density, aged population density were associated with an increased COVID-19 morbidity rate due to the positive characteristics of estimated coefficients of these variables. 2) increasing average building scale, GDP per unit of land area, and hospital density were associated with a decreased COVID-19 morbidity rate due to the negative characteristics of estimated coefficients of these variables. It was concluded that it is possible to control infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, by adjusting social and economic factors. We should guide urban development to improve human health.

Highlights

The emergence of COVID-19 in Wuhan was reported at the end of 2019
The social and economic factors were classified into three dimensions: built environment, economic activities, and public service status (Table 2)
The bivariate analysis for the relationships of each of these influencing factors and the COVID-19 morbidity rate using Pearson correlation analysis revealed the strength of the correlation hidden in the results (Figure 3)

Summary

Introduction

The emergence of COVID-19 in Wuhan was reported at the end of 2019. The previously unknown coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has been identified as the cause. The outbreak of COVID-19 has become a global health concern [1]. A lot of social and economic factors that change human behavior present challenges for the prevention and control of infectious diseases [3]. These social and economic factors consist of population density, urban/rural setting, urbanization, population growth, land-use change [4,5,6]. Similar to the known infectious diseases, the prevention and control of infectious diseases of COVID-19 may relate to these social and economic factors. We should identify these influencing factors and assess the relationships between social and economic factors and the features of the COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion