SPATIAL PATTERNS OF COVID-19 INFECTION RISKS AND THE ASSOCIATIONS WITH BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Infectious diseases have long been regarded as the threat to the public health. The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious disease and lead a pandemic. COVID-19 transmits through human interactions. Built environment provides venues for human interactions and therefore is perceived as the factor affecting infection risks. Moreover, built environment at distant places thus can have impacts on infection risks since people can carry and spread virus at different places. This study utilizes the COVID-19 epidemic in Singapore and aims to explore the spatial patterns of COVID-19 infection risks in different periods, investigate the associations with built environment, and verify how the built environment in distant places impact COVID-19 infection risks. This study can contribute to a deep insight into the spatial patterns of infectious diseases and the relationship with built environment and can be helpful for implementing effective nonpharmaceutical interventions to confront with public health crisis.