Epidemiology of COVID-19 in Albania During the First Year of the Pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered strain of coronavirus, which affects the airway system in humans. This new version of the coronavirus became known in December 2019, after the spread of severe cases with pneumonia in Wuhan province, China which then spread worldwide causing a pandemic of international concern. Since the first confirmed case in Albania there have been 132,243 confirmed infections until May 25, 2021, of which 128,988 have recovered, 2,449 have passed away and 806 were active patients. A descriptive study approach was used to determine the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in Albania. The collected data includes the official number of confirmed cases: the active and recovered ones, as well as the number of deaths from day 1 (9 March) to May 25, 2021, distributed by gender, age and region. Data shows that females are slightly more likely to get infected by COVID-19. The people who got infected the most in Albania were between the ages of 30 to 59 years old. Mortality rate is higher for males and the age group 70+ is the most affected one. Similarities were found between the sex and age distribution of COVID-19 epidemiology in Albania and other countries across the world. A similar pattern of infection, recovery and mortality rate was identified which as vaccines are rolling out, could lead to a more universal response to the pandemic.