How is Coronavirus distributed in the world? A Spatial-Temporal Assessment Using Geographic Information System Approach

Background and objective: Prevalence and the spread of novel Coronavirus (2019-ncov) cause significant life and financial destruction worldwide and is the cause of severe respiratory infection in humans. The present study briefly reviews the latest information on how the virus is distributed around the world. The main question of the study are: 1- In which geographic regions of the world is the Coronavirus more concentrated? 2- Is the distribution of the Coronavirus geographically stable? Material and Methods: To answer these questions, we first began collecting and studying the available scientific resources. The required data was obtained from a daily report of confirmed, recovered, and deaths by the Coronavirus separated by state which was collected from January 22, 2020 to Jun 19, 2020. Based on analyzing available patterns in spatial statistics tool in ArcGIS and geostatistical models, we examined how the Coronavirus was distributed around the world. Results: The spread of the disease is increasing all over the world. Using the results of Map 1, it is seen that the spread of Corona virus has a trend and starts in China and then spreads to the Middle East, Europe and the United States in a linear manner. The results also show that the prevalence of mortality is higher than that of recovery. Central mean and median for all types (Confirmed, Recovered and death) are close to each other. Death mean and median was close to Western countries and Recovered mean and median was close to Eastern countries, while confirmed mean and median was located in the center. Conclusion: Based on spatial statistics tool in ArcGIS and geostatistical models, we examined how the Coronavirus was distributed around the world. Our results showed that the spread of Corona virus had a trend and started in China and then spread to the Middle East, Europe and the United States in a likely linear manner.

Keywords:

Corona Virus , ArcGIS , descriptive study