Login Register Cart 0
Generic placeholder image

Coronaviruses

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 2666-7967
ISSN (Online): 2666-7975

Back
Journal Home About Journal Editorial Board Current Issue Volumes/Issues
Subscribe
Research Article

Analyzing Uttarakhand's COVID-19 Outbreak: Demographic Insights and Strategies for Future Pandemic Prevention

Author(s): Gaurav Joshi*, Akshara Pande, Omdeep Gupta, Anoop Nautiyal, Sanjay Jasola and Prashant Gahtori*

Volume 5, Issue 4, 2024

Published on: 18 December, 2023

Article ID: e181223224597 Pages: 13

DOI: 10.2174/0126667975257267231213071226

Price: $65

conference banner
Abstract

Background: The Indian state of Uttarakhand, also known as "Dev Bhoomi" or the Abode of Gods, is snuggled in the lap of the Himalayas. It is endowed with an abundant natural hilly environment and occupies more people in total than Israel, Switzerland, Hong Kong, etc. In this report, we look closely at the impact of COVID-19 on both high land/ hilly and low land/ plain bhabar zones across the state.

Methods: The data was retrieved from the Uttarakhand Government COVID-19 health bulletin for 12 months using the Python command line. The data analysis covers percentage positivity/COVID- 19 positivity rate, recovery, deceased and doubling rate, along with a detailed statistical analysis.

Results: In the first wave, low-land- inhabitants residing in 4 districts, Dehradun, Haridwar, U. S. Nagar and Nainital, were found more vulnerable, with a peak positive case during the 21st – 26th week. On the other hand, the districts with exclusive hilly terrains, including Chamoli, Pauri Garhwal, and Rudraprayag, were found to be the least susceptible and reported a high number of positive cases between the 30th and 31st week. The highest recovery rate was found to be in the hilly district of Rudraprayag. The multiple regression with confirmed cases was explained in relation to deceased, recovered, other, and tested variables (R2 adj= 0.99). The analysis also revealed a very high doubling rate from the last week of May to the first week of Jun 2020.

Conclusion: The reduced number of COVID-19 cases in high-altitude hilly districts may be associated with factors such as enhanced ventilation, improved arterial oxygen transport, and increased tissue oxygenation. The findings from this study offer insights that can contribute to future pandemic prevention efforts. Summarising the current study, we have suggested 5-point solutions for preventing the next pandemic. It's important to note that while this study suggests a potential link between these factors and lower COVID-19 cases, further research is needed to establish a conclusive connection.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, healthcare, mitigation policies, statistical analysis, arterial oxygen transport.

Graphical Abstract

[1]
Poduri R, Joshi G, Jagadeesh G. Drugs targeting various stages of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle: Exploring promising drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. Cell Signal 2020; 74: 109721.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cellsig.2020.109721] [PMID: 32711111]
[2]
Lamers MM, Haagmans BL. SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. Nat Rev Microbiol 2022; 20(5): 270-84.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41579-022-00713-0] [PMID: 35354968]
[3]
2022.
[4]
Joshi G, Borah P, Thakur S, Sharma P. Mayank, Poduri R. Exploring the COVID-19 vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants: Where do we stand and where do we go? Hum Vaccin Immunother 2021; 17(12): 4714-40.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2021.1995283] [PMID: 34856868]
[5]
Drożdżal S, Rosik J, Lechowicz K, et al. An update on drugs with therapeutic potential for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) treatment. Drug Resist Updat 2021; 59: 100794.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drup.2021.100794] [PMID: 34991982]
[6]
Joshi G, Sindhu J, Thakur S, et al. Recent efforts for drug identification from phytochemicals against SARS-CoV-2: Exploration of the chemical space to identify druggable leads. Food Chem Toxicol 2021; 152: 112160.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2021.112160] [PMID: 33823228]
[7]
Thapliyal N, Joshi G, Gahtori P. Implicit, intrinsic, extrinsic, and host factors attributing the COVID-19 pandemic. part 1-intrinsic factor nitrous oxide emissions: a systematic analysis. medRxiv 2021.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.07.21263196]
[8]
Gahtori A, Pargaien A, Ghosh S K, et al. Implicit, intrinsic, extrinsic, and host factors attributing the COVID-19 pandemic. part 3- Host Factor GDP A Systematic Analysis 2022.
[9]
Arias-Reyes C, Zubieta-DeUrioste N, Poma-Machicao L, et al. Does the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 virus decrease at high-altitude? Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2020; 277: 103443.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resp.2020.103443] [PMID: 32333993]
[10]
Aggarwal JC, Agrawal SP. Uttarakhand: past, present, and future. Concept Publishing Company 1995; Vol. 69.
[11]
Awasthi I, Mehta BS. Forced out-migration from hill regions and return migration during the pandemic: evidence from uttarakhand. Indian Journal of Labour Economics 2020; 63(4): 1107-24.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41027-020-00291-w] [PMID: 33204055]
[12]
Beleslin-Čokić BB, Čokić VP, Wang L, et al. Erythropoietin and hypoxia increase erythropoietin receptor and nitric oxide levels in lung microvascular endothelial cells. Cytokine 2011; 54(2): 129-35.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cyto.2011.01.015] [PMID: 21324713]
[13]
Lundby C, Thomsen JJ, Boushel R, et al. Erythropoietin treatment elevates haemoglobin concentration by increasing red cell volume and depressing plasma volume. J Physiol 2007; 578(1): 309-14.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2006.122689] [PMID: 17095558]
[14]
Kimáková P, Solár P, Solárová Z, Komel R, Debeljak N. Erythropoietin and its angiogenic activity. Int J Mol Sci 2017; 18(7): 1519.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms18071519] [PMID: 28703764]
[15]
Eslami H, Jalili M. The role of environmental factors to transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). AMB Express 2020; 10(1): 92.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13568-020-01028-0] [PMID: 32415548]
[16]
Aggarwal A, Rai R, Joshi G, Gahtori P. Implicit, intrinsic, extrinsic (or environmental), and host factors attributing the COVID-19 pandemic. part 2-implicit factor pesticide use: A systematic analysis. medRxiv 2021.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.09.21263347]
[17]
Aabed K, Lashin MMA. An analytical study of the factors that influence COVID-19 spread. Saudi J Biol Sci 2021; 28(2): 1177-95.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.11.067] [PMID: 33262677]
[18]
Ma Y, Pei S, Shaman J, Dubrow R, Chen K. Role of meteorological factors in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States. Nat Commun 2021; 12(1): 3602.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23866-7] [PMID: 34127665]
[19]
Martins-Filho PR. Relationship between population density and COVID-19 incidence and mortality estimates: A county-level analysis. J Infect Public Health 2021; 14(8): 1087-8.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2021.06.018] [PMID: 34245973]
[20]
Bourdrel T, Annesi-Maesano I, Alahmad B, Maesano CN, Bind MA. The impact of outdoor air pollution on COVID-19: a review of evidence from in vitro, animal, and human studies. Eur Respir Rev 2021; 30(159): 200242.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/16000617.0242-2020] [PMID: 33568525]
[21]
Rastogi A, Bhansali A, Khare N, et al. Short term, high-dose vitamin D supplementation for COVID-19 disease: a randomised, placebo-controlled, study (SHADE study). Postgrad Med J 2022; 98(1156): 87-90.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-139065] [PMID: 33184146]
[22]
Burtscher M. Effects of living at higher altitudes on mortality: A narrative review. Aging Dis 2013; 5(4): 274-80.
[PMID: 25110611]
[23]
Yang W, Shaman J. COVID-19 pandemic dynamics in India, the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, and implications for vaccination. medRxiv 2021.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.21.21259268]
[24]
Official website of the department of medical health and family welfare government of uttarakhand. 2020. Available from: https://health.uk.gov.in/pages/view/100-%20corona-guidelines (Accessed September 29).
[25]
Renu G, Kashyap SK. Decisive factors of employment vulnerability of rural youth in the hills of Uttarakhand. Bioved 2018; 29(2): 293-7.
[26]
Parvathamma GL. Unemployment dimensions of COVID-19 and Government response in India–An analytical study. International Journal of Health and Economic Development 2020; 6(2): 28-35.
[27]
Sati VP. Out-migration in Uttarakhand Himalaya: its types, reasons, and consequences. Migrat Lett 2021; 18(3): 281-95.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.33182/ml.v18i3.957]
[28]
Kalra M. Healthcare in Uttarakhand: Impact on human development. Hum Development 2021; 7(11)
[29]
Islam MS, Sarkar T, Khan SH, et al. COVID-19–related infodemic and its impact on public health: A global social media analysis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2020; 103(4): 1621-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-0812] [PMID: 32783794]
[30]
Cavus N, Sani AS, Haruna Y, Lawan AA. Efficacy of social networking sites for sustainable education in the era of COVID-19: a systematic review. Sustainability 2021; 13(2): 808.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13020808]

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
Article Metrics
8
1
Wayfinder Image
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy