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The Epidemiological and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Libya

COVID-19 is a global pandemic that has affected all aspects of life. Understanding its geographical and epidemiological characteristics has become particularly important in controlling the spread of the pandemic. Such studies are lacking in North African countries, particularly in Libya, which has t...

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Autores principales: Daw, Mohamed A., El-Bouzedi, Abdallah H., Ahmed, Mohamed O.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236517/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34195168
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.628211
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author Daw, Mohamed A.
El-Bouzedi, Abdallah H.
Ahmed, Mohamed O.
author_facet Daw, Mohamed A.
El-Bouzedi, Abdallah H.
Ahmed, Mohamed O.
author_sort Daw, Mohamed A.
collection PubMed
description COVID-19 is a global pandemic that has affected all aspects of life. Understanding its geographical and epidemiological characteristics has become particularly important in controlling the spread of the pandemic. Such studies are lacking in North African countries, particularly in Libya, which has the second largest area of any country in Africa and the longest coast facing Europe. The objectives of this study are to determine the epidemiological parameters and spatiotemporal patterns of COVID-19 and outline strategies for containing the spread and consequences of the pandemic. This comprehensive study included all the confirmed cases of COVID-19 since its emergence in Libya on March 24, 2020 until July 31, 2020. The epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 were analyzed and the spatial dynamic trends were explored. Regional counts of weekly reported cases were used to characterize the spatial dynamics of COVID-19. A total of 3,695 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were recorded: 2,515 men (68.1%) and 1,180 women (31.9%), with a male-to-female ratio of 2.1:1. Ages ranged between 2 and 78 years. Older patients infected with COVID-19 were at a risk of higher disease severity and mortality. Broad geographic variability and spatiotemporal spread variation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Libya was observed, indicating a significant increase of COVID-19 spread starting in the middle of July 2020, particularly in the western and southern regions, although it was consistently reported in the central and eastern regions as well. Assessing the spatiotemporal dynamics of COVID-19 in the early stages of the epidemic is particularly important in understanding the pandemic spread. Such assessments are essential for designing effective prevention and control programs aimed at reducing the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic, particularly in countries with limited resources.
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spelling pubmed-82365172021-06-29 The Epidemiological and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Libya Daw, Mohamed A. El-Bouzedi, Abdallah H. Ahmed, Mohamed O. Front Public Health Public Health COVID-19 is a global pandemic that has affected all aspects of life. Understanding its geographical and epidemiological characteristics has become particularly important in controlling the spread of the pandemic. Such studies are lacking in North African countries, particularly in Libya, which has the second largest area of any country in Africa and the longest coast facing Europe. The objectives of this study are to determine the epidemiological parameters and spatiotemporal patterns of COVID-19 and outline strategies for containing the spread and consequences of the pandemic. This comprehensive study included all the confirmed cases of COVID-19 since its emergence in Libya on March 24, 2020 until July 31, 2020. The epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 were analyzed and the spatial dynamic trends were explored. Regional counts of weekly reported cases were used to characterize the spatial dynamics of COVID-19. A total of 3,695 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were recorded: 2,515 men (68.1%) and 1,180 women (31.9%), with a male-to-female ratio of 2.1:1. Ages ranged between 2 and 78 years. Older patients infected with COVID-19 were at a risk of higher disease severity and mortality. Broad geographic variability and spatiotemporal spread variation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Libya was observed, indicating a significant increase of COVID-19 spread starting in the middle of July 2020, particularly in the western and southern regions, although it was consistently reported in the central and eastern regions as well. Assessing the spatiotemporal dynamics of COVID-19 in the early stages of the epidemic is particularly important in understanding the pandemic spread. Such assessments are essential for designing effective prevention and control programs aimed at reducing the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic, particularly in countries with limited resources. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC8236517/ /pubmed/34195168 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.628211 Text en Copyright © 2021 Daw, El-Bouzedi and Ahmed. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Daw, Mohamed A.
El-Bouzedi, Abdallah H.
Ahmed, Mohamed O.
The Epidemiological and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Libya
title The Epidemiological and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Libya
title_full The Epidemiological and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Libya
title_fullStr The Epidemiological and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Libya
title_full_unstemmed The Epidemiological and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Libya
title_short The Epidemiological and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Libya
title_sort epidemiological and spatiotemporal characteristics of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (covid-19) in libya
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236517/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34195168
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.628211
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