Exploring the Spatiotemporal Patterns of SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Healthcare Workers and Patients in China

Wang, Peixiao; Hu, Tao; Guo, Wei; Ren, Hui; Zhu, Xinyan

Studying the spatiotemporal distributions and differences of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) between social groups such as healthcare workers and patients can aid in formulating epidemic containment policies. Most previous studies of the spatiotemporal characteristics of COVID-19 were conducted in a single group and did not explore the differences between groups. To fill this research gap, this study assessed the spatiotemporal characteristics and differences in COVID-19 among patients and healthcare workers in Wuhan, Hubei (excluding Wuhan), and China (excluding Hubei) by combining data from healthcare workers and patients with confirmed COVID-19. The results show that: (1) the temporal difference in the early-onset region was greater than that in the late-onset region.That is,the temporal difference was greater in Wuhan than in Hubei (except Wuhan), and greater in Hubei (excluding Wuhan) than in China (except Hubei).(2)The spatial difference in the early stage and early-onset region were less than the temporal differences in the later stage and late-onset region.That is,the spatial difference was less in Wuhan than in Hubei (except Wuhan), and less in Hubei (excluding Wuhan) than in China (except Hubei).