Prediction of Epidemic Spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Driven by Spring Festival Transportation in China: A Population-Based Study

Changyu Fan, Linping Liu, Wei Guo, Anuo Yang, Chenchen Ye, Maitixirepu Jilili, Meina Ren, Peng Xu, Hexing Long and Yufan Wang
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Changyu Fan: School of Sociology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China
Linping Liu: School of Public Administration, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang Province, China
Wei Guo: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, Jiangsu Province, China
Anuo Yang: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, Jiangsu Province, China
Chenchen Ye: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, Jiangsu Province, China
Maitixirepu Jilili: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, Jiangsu Province, China
Meina Ren: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, Jiangsu Province, China
Peng Xu: School of Sociology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, Hubei Province, China
Hexing Long: School of Economics, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China
Yufan Wang: School of Sociology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-27

Abstract: After the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, we estimated the distribution and scale of more than 5 million migrants residing in Wuhan after they returned to their hometown communities in Hubei Province or other provinces at the end of 2019 by using the data from the 2013–2018 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS). We found that the distribution of Wuhan’s migrants is centred in Hubei Province (approximately 75%) at a provincial level, gradually decreasing in the surrounding provinces in layers, with obvious spatial characteristics of circle layers and echelons. The scale of Wuhan’s migrants, whose origins in Hubei Province give rise to a gradient reduction from east to west within the province, and account for 66% of Wuhan’s total migrants, are from the surrounding prefectural-level cities of Wuhan. The distribution comprises 94 districts and counties in Hubei Province, and the cumulative percentage of the top 30 districts and counties exceeds 80%. Wuhan’s migrants have a large proportion of middle-aged and high-risk individuals. Their social characteristics include nuclear family migration (84%), migration with families of 3–4 members (71%), a rural household registration (85%), and working or doing business (84%) as the main reason for migration. Using a quasi-experimental analysis framework, we found that the size of Wuhan’s migrants was highly correlated with the daily number of confirmed cases. Furthermore, we compared the epidemic situation in different regions and found that the number of confirmed cases in some provinces and cities in Hubei Province may be underestimated, while the epidemic situation in some regions has increased rapidly. The results are conducive to monitoring the epidemic prevention and control in various regions.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus; the origins of Wuhan’s migrants; population size; social characteristics of floating population; quasi-experimental approach (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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