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arXiv · 2502.14649

Understanding infection risks of COVID-19 in the city: an investigation of infected neighborhoods in Wuhan

Weipan Xu·Ying Li·Xun Li
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Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, built environments in dense urban settings become major sources of infection. This study tests the difference of demographics and surrounding built environments across high-, medium- and low-infection neighborhoods, to inform the high-risk areas in the city. We found that high-infection neighborhoods own a higher ratio of aged population than other neighborhoods on average. However, it shows no statistical difference in terms of population density. Additionally, high-infection neighborhoods are closer to high-risk built environments than the others. In a walking distance, they also can access more of the high-risk built environments except for the wholesale markets and shopping malls. These findings advise policy-makers to deploy social distancing measures in precision, regulating the access of high-risk facilities to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.

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Weipan Xu, Ying Li, Xun Li. 2025-02-20. Understanding infection risks of COVID-19 in the city: an investigation of infected neighborhoods in Wuhan. https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.14649

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