Multivariate Analysis of COVID-19 for Countries with Limited and Scarce Data: Examples from Nepal

This paper aims to understand the dynamics of the spread of COVID-19 for Nepal. It is carried out with the help of multivariate statistics techniques. Direct relationships among variables are obvious, as they are easily seen and measured. But, hidden variables and their interrelationships also have a significant effect on the spread of a pandemic. Multinomial logistic regression, odds ratio, linear mixed-effect models, and principal component analysis are used here to analyze these hidden variables and their interrelationships. Also, such studies are very important for countries with limited and scarce data. These countries do not have a backbone of good-quality official records. Understanding the spread of a disease in a developing country also helps in management and eradication of that disease. The multivariate daily data of new cases, deaths, recovered, total cases, total deaths, total recovered, and total infected (isolated) are used here. The daily incidence of new cases is also modeled here using nonlinear regression. Two best nonlinear models are discussed here. ARIMA models are used for analyzing and forecasting the progression of the variables for two months into the future. The impact of government restriction in the form of strict lockdown 1, partially relaxed lockdown 1, completely relaxed lockdown 1, and strict lockdown 2 is minutely analyzed. These controls were exercised to curtail the spread of the pandemic. The role of these controls in curbing the spread of the pandemic is also studied here. The results obtained from this study can be applied to other countries of South Asia and Africa.