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. 2021;7(1):623-629.
doi: 10.1007/s40808-020-00984-7. Epub 2020 Oct 14.

Impact of population density on Covid-19 infected and mortality rate in India

Arunava Bhadra  1 , Arindam Mukherjee  1 , Kabita Sarkar  2
Affiliations

Impact of population density on Covid-19 infected and mortality rate in India

Arunava Bhadra et al. Model Earth Syst Environ. 2021.

Abstract

The Covid-19 is a highly contagious disease which becomes a serious global health concern. The residents living in areas with high population density, such as big or metropolitan cities, have a higher probability to come into close contact with others and consequently any contagious disease is expected to spread rapidly in dense areas. However, recently, after analyzing Covid-19 cases in the USA researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, London school of economics, and IZA-Institute of Labour Economics conclude that the spread of Covid-19 is not linked with population density. Here, we investigate the influence of population density on Covid-19 spread and related mortality in the context of India. After a detailed correlation and regression analysis of infection and mortality rates due to Covid-19 at the district level, we find moderate association between Covid-19 spread and population density.

Keywords: Covid-19; India; Infection and mortality rate; Population density.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThere is no conflict of interest between the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Variation of infected and death rate due to Covid-19 with population density of districts of a West Bengal, b Maharashtra, c Uttar Pradesh, and d Tamil Nadu
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Same as Fig. 1 but for the whole India, a up to 10th September 2020, b till 5th July2020. The solid and dash lines describe the linear fit of the data with zero and non-zero intercepts, respectively
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Variation of averaged infected and death rate due to Covid-19 with population density for the whole country
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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