Why Geography Is A Key Part Of Fighting The COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak!

Geography is unique in bridging the social sciences and the natural sciences. There are two main branches of geography: human geography and physical geography. Human geography is concerned with the spatial aspects of human existence. Physical geographers study patterns of climates, landforms, vegetation, soils, and water. Geographers use many tools and techniques in their work, and geographic technologies are increasingly important for understanding our complex world. They include Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and online mapping such as Google Earth.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are ways to organize, present, and analyze spatial and geographic data. You probably don’t realize it, but Waze or Google Maps fall within the realm of GISscience. Both of these apps likely benefit you daily. The Johns Hopkins University is maintaining an excellent Coronavirus tracking website, which gathers information from multiple data sources. The disclaimer on the website notes, “The Johns Hopkins University hereby disclaims any and all representations and warranties with respect to the Website, including accuracy, fitness for use, and merchantability.” They are cautioning that the website should not be used for medical guidance. Researchers at other institutions including the University of Washington and the University of Georgia have also developed publicly-available “tracker tools.”

ESRI is a leading organization within the geography field and a provider of GIS resources. I found a compelling coronavirus tutorial authored by Miss Bytheway on the ESRI website with very instructive lessons and activities. Kenneth Field also offers an excellent blog post at the ESRI website about mapping coronavirus responsibly. Dr. Dawn Wright is Chief Scientist at ESRI. She recently tweeted a fantastic website with a plethora of geographic information about the coronavirus outbreak in Singapore.

In Bangladesh, GroupMappers have also developed a publicly-available dashboard which is Optimized hotspot analysis, using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic, which shows the hot spots of the COVID-19 in DMA, pointing out the significant spatial clusters of the disease. Hotspots are not the zones of only high occurrence, but also the areas surrounded by other zones of the high occurrence of COVID-19 cases. It is evident from the analysis that Dhaka South City Corporation, particularly ward no 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42, and 48, has been most active as the hotspots of the spread of the virus.

To halt the spread of the virus, more caution and observation should be put on these hotspots. 

𝑻𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝑶𝑽𝑰𝑫-19 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒉, 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑𝑴𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔’ 𝒅𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅:

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑘𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛: https://arcg.is/1r4y4e

𝑀𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛: https://arcg.is/1qTCr9