THE ROLE OF GEOSPATIAL DATA IN THE COVID-19 RESPONSE

Katie Lorimer (WHS)

Geospatial data and maps have long been used to track the spread of diseases from John Snow’s iconic mapping of cholera outbreaks in 1854, fast forward now to widespread use of mapping and technology to track the spread of COVID-19 in very present times. Maps are a form of geospatial data that has been visualised to present data in a meaningful way. They help disease responses as they strengthen our understanding and behavioural response to outbreaks. Take the COVID-19 outbreak, we can map the disease over time and its spread from the epicentre, Wuhan. Maps clearly show the rapid spread of the virus and how due to globalisation it was able to spread so vastly and rapidly due to the mobility and interconnectivity of our world and its inhabitants that is ever increasing. This means maps help us to not only look at the current disease as it is spreading but look at future diseases learning from how past ones have spread and how we can contain them on both the global and hyper-local level by analysing our mobility and our response tactics to the outbreak. Organisations such as the BBC use maps and geospatial data to help minimise the spread of the virus by allowing individuals to put in their postal code and see mapped COVID-19 case data in their local area. This can help minimise the spread as it helps individuals to make smart decisions about their social interactions in correlation with the rate of COVID-19 in their area and enables people to take steps to reduce the spread of infection in their local community. Socioeconomic impacts.

The socioeconomic impacts of the COIVD-19 virus can also be mapped using geospatial data to highlight areas with social vulnerability. An example of this is the Centres for Disease Control’s social vulnerability index which uses 15 states of the US census variables to help local officials identify communities that may need support as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The social vulnerability index groups social factors into four main themes: household composition, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status and housing/transportation. By mapping data highlighting census variables across the US, it is possible to mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the outbreak in vulnerable communities through local and national officials recognising the increased social vulnerability in an area and therefore taking steps to reduce this by allocating more services and by reducing social vulnerability this can decrease emotional suffering and economic loss. Maps also have helped individuals in local communities track down and receive essential resources and services. Due to closures of businesses and reduction in critical services such as public transportation, it has been difficult for key workers to travel, and for individuals to access resources that are essential such as food and medical supplies. Today we live in a world where when we open our phones within seconds, we have a map of the world with vast amounts of data showing opening times of businesses, our nearest open supermarkets or information of what businesses sell. The accessibility of maps has increased our interconnectivity to our local neighbourhood and during the pandemic has allowed us to receive essential items due to maps being a critical tool in our connectivity to our local area allowing us to locate the essential items we need. Maps can also be used to evaluate the economic impact of lockdown and promote business progression. In addition to the devastating public health impacts from COVID-19 that have been experienced globally, the economy has also experienced sharp contracts and national recessions. When centring in on local economies across the United States, the economic impact of the pandemic has not been consistent. However, geospatial data can play an important part in understanding provincial differences enabling the support of business progression and recovery from the economic contraction. This economic geospatial data can be displayed to highlight economic vulnerability of regions as shown by the KY COVID-19 Economic Impact Dashboard built by Kentucky’s GIS team. The dashboard traces and presents unemployment levels across different districts resulting in the economic vulnerability of each of those districts to be highlighted. Not only does this dashboard measure economic impact, but it also serves a purpose to help allocate unemployment services to districts of the state with the greatest economic impact and highest levels of unemployment as a result of the pandemic. In addition to this, maps can be used to aid business progression through the promotion of small businesses using geospatial data to connect residents to local small businesses. The use of maps help individuals to be more aware of small businesses and is a platform to promote them in the hope for individuals to target their money towards the small businesses in their local area so they can remain open, keep their employees employed and see more economic growth during these difficult economic times. Maps are also a useful tool to display factors such as loneliness which has been something commonly felt across the outbreak of the pandemic due to many lockdowns across the world. Age UK display a heat map showing the relative risk of loneliness that people may be experiencing in pandemics and lockdowns across 32,844 neighbourhoods in England. The relative risk of loneliness map is based on the Census 2011 figures and shows the following factors: marital status, self-reported health status, household size and age. By

looking at these four factors plotted on a map one is able to observe areas of concentrated loneliness. By using this geospatial data displayed on a map, local authorities are able to allocate their limited resources to reduce loneliness to the right geographic areas. This helps officials to understand whether existing services such as mental health services are sufficient and reaching the areas of need, signalling where there is a deficit in these services in correlation to the needs of the neighbourhoods and also to elevate the profile of loneliness that occurs among older people in a local community in hope for others to reach out and support the elderly in our lives and in our own local communities. Maps are effective in visualising data however for them to be fully effective and influence people they have to tell a story; they have to be personal. Data by itself does not portray a story however when overlaid with a map this can inspire action by creating a share narrative. A map that inspires action during the COVID-19 pandemic has great influences: it can motivate action from global leaders, influencers and communities, create a shared narrative between leaders and individuals, and it can remind us that we are strong if we lean on each other and we will get through this.

Bibliography

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computerscience/geospatial-data https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51235105 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51768274 https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index. html https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/google-mapsupdates-the-operational-status-of-businesses/ COVID-19 Economic Impact Dashboard http://data.ageuk.org.uk/loneliness-maps/ england-2016/