?:abstract
|
-
Human mobility plays a crucial role in determining how fast and where infectious diseases can spread. This study aims to investigate visit to which category of places among grocery, retail, parks, workplaces, residential, and transit stations is more associated with the incidence of COVID-19 in India. A longitudinal analysis of generalized estimating equation (GEE) with a Poisson log-linear model is employed to analyze the daily mobility rate and reported new cases of COVID-19 between March 14 and September 11, 2020. This study finds that mobility to places of grocery (food and vegetable markets, drug stores etc.) and retail (restaurants, cafes, shopping centres etc.) is significantly associated (at p<0.01) with the incidence of COVID-19. In contrast, visits to parks, transit stations and mobility within residential neighbourhoods are not statistically significant (p>0.05) in changing COVID-19 cases over time. These findings highlight that instead of blanket lockdown restrictions, authorities should adopt a place-based approach focusing on vulnerable hotspot locations to contain the COVID-19 and any future infectious disease.
|