The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population Density
This paper attempts to ascertain the impacts of population density on the spread and severity of COVID-19 in Malaysia. Besides describing the spatio-temporal contagion risk of the virus, ultimately, it seeks to test the hypothesis that higher population density results in exacerbated COVID-19 virule...
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-06-01
|
Series: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6566 |
id |
doaj-99b01270ef9f46ccbec01c1223ce7256 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-99b01270ef9f46ccbec01c1223ce72562021-07-01T00:31:55ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-06-01186566656610.3390/ijerph18126566The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population DensitySiew Bee Aw0Bor Tsong Teh1Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling2Pau Chung Leng3Weng Howe Chan4Mohd Hamdan Ahmad5Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81300, Johor, MalaysiaFaculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81300, Johor, MalaysiaFaculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81300, Johor, MalaysiaFaculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81300, Johor, MalaysiaSchool of Computing, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81300, Johor, MalaysiaFaculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81300, Johor, MalaysiaThis paper attempts to ascertain the impacts of population density on the spread and severity of COVID-19 in Malaysia. Besides describing the spatio-temporal contagion risk of the virus, ultimately, it seeks to test the hypothesis that higher population density results in exacerbated COVID-19 virulence in the community. The population density of 143 districts in Malaysia, as per data from Malaysia’s 2010 population census, was plotted against cumulative COVID-19 cases and infection rates of COVID-19 cases, which were obtained from Malaysia’s Ministry of Health official website. The data of these three variables were collected between 19 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. Based on the observations, districts that have high population densities and are highly inter-connected with neighbouring districts, whether geographically, socio-economically, or infrastructurally, tend to experience spikes in COVID-19 cases within weeks of each other. Using a parametric approach of the Pearson correlation, population density was found to have a moderately strong relationship to cumulative COVID-19 cases (<i>p</i>-value of 0.000 and R<sup>2</sup> of 0.415) and a weak relationship to COVID-19 infection rates (<i>p</i>-value of 0.005 and R<sup>2</sup> of 0.047). Consequently, we provide several non-pharmaceutical lessons, including urban planning strategies, as passive containment measures that may better support disease interventions against future contagious diseases.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6566population densitycoronavirusCOVID-19Pearson correlationsspatio-temporalnon-pharmaceutical measures |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Siew Bee Aw Bor Tsong Teh Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling Pau Chung Leng Weng Howe Chan Mohd Hamdan Ahmad |
spellingShingle |
Siew Bee Aw Bor Tsong Teh Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling Pau Chung Leng Weng Howe Chan Mohd Hamdan Ahmad The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population Density International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health population density coronavirus COVID-19 Pearson correlations spatio-temporal non-pharmaceutical measures |
author_facet |
Siew Bee Aw Bor Tsong Teh Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling Pau Chung Leng Weng Howe Chan Mohd Hamdan Ahmad |
author_sort |
Siew Bee Aw |
title |
The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population Density |
title_short |
The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population Density |
title_full |
The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population Density |
title_fullStr |
The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population Density |
title_full_unstemmed |
The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population Density |
title_sort |
covid-19 pandemic situation in malaysia: lessons learned from the perspective of population density |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1661-7827 1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2021-06-01 |
description |
This paper attempts to ascertain the impacts of population density on the spread and severity of COVID-19 in Malaysia. Besides describing the spatio-temporal contagion risk of the virus, ultimately, it seeks to test the hypothesis that higher population density results in exacerbated COVID-19 virulence in the community. The population density of 143 districts in Malaysia, as per data from Malaysia’s 2010 population census, was plotted against cumulative COVID-19 cases and infection rates of COVID-19 cases, which were obtained from Malaysia’s Ministry of Health official website. The data of these three variables were collected between 19 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. Based on the observations, districts that have high population densities and are highly inter-connected with neighbouring districts, whether geographically, socio-economically, or infrastructurally, tend to experience spikes in COVID-19 cases within weeks of each other. Using a parametric approach of the Pearson correlation, population density was found to have a moderately strong relationship to cumulative COVID-19 cases (<i>p</i>-value of 0.000 and R<sup>2</sup> of 0.415) and a weak relationship to COVID-19 infection rates (<i>p</i>-value of 0.005 and R<sup>2</sup> of 0.047). Consequently, we provide several non-pharmaceutical lessons, including urban planning strategies, as passive containment measures that may better support disease interventions against future contagious diseases. |
topic |
population density coronavirus COVID-19 Pearson correlations spatio-temporal non-pharmaceutical measures |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6566 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT siewbeeaw thecovid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT bortsongteh thecovid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT gabrielhohteckling thecovid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT pauchungleng thecovid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT wenghowechan thecovid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT mohdhamdanahmad thecovid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT siewbeeaw covid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT bortsongteh covid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT gabrielhohteckling covid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT pauchungleng covid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT wenghowechan covid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity AT mohdhamdanahmad covid19pandemicsituationinmalaysialessonslearnedfromtheperspectiveofpopulationdensity |
_version_ |
1721348300816252928 |