Dinâmica espaço-temporal da COVID-19 nas regionais administrativas de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

Epidemics are a great concern to the human species and viral pathogens represent an ever-present danger to global health, as highlighted by the recent event of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This article aims to analyze COVID-19 mortality rates and explore their associations with demographic and social indicators in the nine administrative regions of the municipality of Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, which is the second most populous state in Brazil. This study considers and analyzes the spatial-temporal patterns of the COVID-19 deaths reported in the epidemiological bulletins of the Prefeitura de Belo Horizonte (PBH) (Belo Horizonte city council). The analysis considers the period from Epidemiological Week (EW)EW 23/2020 (31st May 2020) to EW 21/2021 (29th May 2021). The results indicate that the administrative regions had distinct behaviors in relation to COVID-19 and that this performance is predominantly associated with demographic characteristics and social vulnerability.