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Correlation between Population Density and COVID-19 Cases during the Third Wave in Malaysia: Effect of the Delta Variant

In this study, we describe the incidence and distribution of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia at district level and determine their correlation with absolute population and population density, before and during the period that the Delta variant was dominant in Malaysia. Methods: Data on the number of loca...

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Autores principales: Md Iderus, Nuur Hafizah, Lakha Singh, Sarbhan Singh, Mohd Ghazali, Sumarni, Yoon Ling, Cheong, Cia Vei, Tan, Md Zamri, Ahmed Syahmi Syafiq, Ahmad Jaafar, Nadhar, Ruslan, Qistina, Ahmad Jaghfar, Nur Huda, Gill, Balvinder Singh
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9223655/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35742687
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127439
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author Md Iderus, Nuur Hafizah
Lakha Singh, Sarbhan Singh
Mohd Ghazali, Sumarni
Yoon Ling, Cheong
Cia Vei, Tan
Md Zamri, Ahmed Syahmi Syafiq
Ahmad Jaafar, Nadhar
Ruslan, Qistina
Ahmad Jaghfar, Nur Huda
Gill, Balvinder Singh
author_facet Md Iderus, Nuur Hafizah
Lakha Singh, Sarbhan Singh
Mohd Ghazali, Sumarni
Yoon Ling, Cheong
Cia Vei, Tan
Md Zamri, Ahmed Syahmi Syafiq
Ahmad Jaafar, Nadhar
Ruslan, Qistina
Ahmad Jaghfar, Nur Huda
Gill, Balvinder Singh
author_sort Md Iderus, Nuur Hafizah
collection PubMed
description In this study, we describe the incidence and distribution of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia at district level and determine their correlation with absolute population and population density, before and during the period that the Delta variant was dominant in Malaysia. Methods: Data on the number of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in each of the 145 districts in Malaysia, between 20 September 2020 and 19 September 2021, were manually extracted from official reports. The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases, population and population density of each district were described using choropleth maps. The correlation between population and population density with the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in each district in the pre-Delta dominant period (20 September 2020–29 June 2021) and during the Delta dominant period (30 June 2021–19 September 2021) were determined using Pearson’s correlation. Results: COVID-19 cases were strongly correlated with both absolute population and population density (Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) = 0.87 and r = 0.78, respectively). A majority of the districts had higher numbers of COVID-19 cases during the Delta dominant period compared to the pre-Delta period. The correlation coefficient in the pre-Delta dominant period was r = 0.79 vs. r = 0.86 during the Delta dominant period, whereas the pre-Delta dominant population density was r = 0.72, and in the Delta dominant period, r = 0.76. Conclusion: More populous and densely populated districts have a higher risk of transmission of COVID-19, especially with the Delta variant as the dominant circulating strain. Therefore, extra and more stringent control measures should be instituted in highly populated areas to control the spread of COVID-19.
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spelling pubmed-92236552022-06-24 Correlation between Population Density and COVID-19 Cases during the Third Wave in Malaysia: Effect of the Delta Variant Md Iderus, Nuur Hafizah Lakha Singh, Sarbhan Singh Mohd Ghazali, Sumarni Yoon Ling, Cheong Cia Vei, Tan Md Zamri, Ahmed Syahmi Syafiq Ahmad Jaafar, Nadhar Ruslan, Qistina Ahmad Jaghfar, Nur Huda Gill, Balvinder Singh Int J Environ Res Public Health Article In this study, we describe the incidence and distribution of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia at district level and determine their correlation with absolute population and population density, before and during the period that the Delta variant was dominant in Malaysia. Methods: Data on the number of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in each of the 145 districts in Malaysia, between 20 September 2020 and 19 September 2021, were manually extracted from official reports. The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases, population and population density of each district were described using choropleth maps. The correlation between population and population density with the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in each district in the pre-Delta dominant period (20 September 2020–29 June 2021) and during the Delta dominant period (30 June 2021–19 September 2021) were determined using Pearson’s correlation. Results: COVID-19 cases were strongly correlated with both absolute population and population density (Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) = 0.87 and r = 0.78, respectively). A majority of the districts had higher numbers of COVID-19 cases during the Delta dominant period compared to the pre-Delta period. The correlation coefficient in the pre-Delta dominant period was r = 0.79 vs. r = 0.86 during the Delta dominant period, whereas the pre-Delta dominant population density was r = 0.72, and in the Delta dominant period, r = 0.76. Conclusion: More populous and densely populated districts have a higher risk of transmission of COVID-19, especially with the Delta variant as the dominant circulating strain. Therefore, extra and more stringent control measures should be instituted in highly populated areas to control the spread of COVID-19. MDPI 2022-06-17 /pmc/articles/PMC9223655/ /pubmed/35742687 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127439 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Md Iderus, Nuur Hafizah
Lakha Singh, Sarbhan Singh
Mohd Ghazali, Sumarni
Yoon Ling, Cheong
Cia Vei, Tan
Md Zamri, Ahmed Syahmi Syafiq
Ahmad Jaafar, Nadhar
Ruslan, Qistina
Ahmad Jaghfar, Nur Huda
Gill, Balvinder Singh
Correlation between Population Density and COVID-19 Cases during the Third Wave in Malaysia: Effect of the Delta Variant
title Correlation between Population Density and COVID-19 Cases during the Third Wave in Malaysia: Effect of the Delta Variant
title_full Correlation between Population Density and COVID-19 Cases during the Third Wave in Malaysia: Effect of the Delta Variant
title_fullStr Correlation between Population Density and COVID-19 Cases during the Third Wave in Malaysia: Effect of the Delta Variant
title_full_unstemmed Correlation between Population Density and COVID-19 Cases during the Third Wave in Malaysia: Effect of the Delta Variant
title_short Correlation between Population Density and COVID-19 Cases during the Third Wave in Malaysia: Effect of the Delta Variant
title_sort correlation between population density and covid-19 cases during the third wave in malaysia: effect of the delta variant
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9223655/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35742687
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127439
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