Analysis of Hazard Rate of Municipalities in Slovakia in Terms of COVID-19

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Aug 28;18(17):9082. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18179082.

Abstract

The coronavirus became a phenomenon in 2020, which is making an unwanted but wide space for the study of various scientific disciplines. The COVID-19 pandemic situation which has reached almost the whole civilized world by its consequences thus offers a unique possibility to analyze the graphic space and the human activities inside it. The aim of this study is to predict and identify the potential rate of threat on the example of COVID-19 in Slovakia through an established model. This model consisted of an assessment of the partial phenomena of exposure, vulnerability, and overall risk. The statistical data used to evaluate these phenomena concerned individual cities in Slovakia. These represent the smallest administrative unit. Indirect methods based on the point method were applied in the paper. The spreading and transfer of the disease was influenced much more by the exposure presented by traffic availability, especially, but also the concentration of inhabitants in the selected locations (shops, cemeteries, and others). In the results, our modeling confirmed the regions with the highest intensity, especially in the districts (Bratislava, Košice, Prešov, and Nitra). The selection of the data and method used in this study together with the results reached and presented may serve as an appropriate tool for the support of decision-making of other measures for the future.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Slovakia; exposure; hazard.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19*
  • Cities
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Slovakia / epidemiology