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

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

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.