Evaluation Of Vulnerability Status Of The Infection Risk To Covid-19 Using Geographic Information Systems And Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis: A Case Study Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Covid-19 Is A Disease Caused By A New Coronavirus Called Sars-Cov-2 And Is An Accidental Global Public Health Threat. Due To This Who Declared The Covid-19 OutbreakA Pandemic. The Pandemic Is Spreading Unprecedently In Addis Ababa, Which Results In Extraordinary Logistical And Management Challenges In Response To The Novel CoronavirusIn The City. Thus, Management Strategies And Resource Allocation Need A Vulnerability Oriented Approach. Though Various Studies Have Carried On Covid-19, Only A Few Studies On Vulnerability From A Geospatial/Location-Based Perspective Are Conducted But At Wider Spatial Resolution. This Puts The Result Of Those Studies Under Question While Their Findings Projected To The Finer Spatial Resolution. To Overcome These Problems, The Integrations Of Geographic Information Systems (Gis) And Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (Mcda) Are Developed As A Framework To Evaluate And Map The Susceptibility Status Of The Infection Risk To Covid-19. To Achieve The Objective Of The Study, Following Data Such As Landuse, Population Density, Distance From Roads, Distance From Hospitals, Distance From Bus Stations/Terminals, Distance From The Bank, Distance To Markets, Number Of People With Covid-19, Distance To Health Care Unite, And Distance To Government Offices Are Used. The Criteria Population Density, Number Of Covid-19 Cases, And Landuse Rasterized And Reclassified To Make Them Suitable For Further Analysis. The Rest Criteria Are Analyzed Through Proximity Analysis And Reclassified Into Vulnerability Mode. The Weighted Overlay Method Was Used; To Evaluate And Map The Susceptibility Status Of The Infection Risk To The Covid-19. The Result Showed That Out Of The Total Study Area, 32.62% (169.91 Km2) Fall Under Low Vulnerable (1), And The Area Which Covers 40.9% (213.04 Km2) Is Under Moderate Vulnerable Class (2) For Infection Risk Of Covid-19. The Highly Vulnerable (3) Covers An Area Of 25.31% (132.85 Km2), And The Remaining 1.17% (6.12 Km2) Is Under An Extremely High Vulnerable Class (4). Thus, Pandemic Control Mechanisms Like Disinfection Could Be Addressed Regularly To These Priority Zones. The Health Sector, Local Governments, The Scientific Community, And The Population, In General, Will Use The Result Of This Study As A Useful Tool To Better Understand Where The Pandemic Transmission Center And Identify Areas Where More Protective Measures And Response Actions Need To Be In Place At Finer Spatial Resolution.