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Human mobility and infection from Covid-19 in the Osaka metropolitan area

Haruka Kato1, Atsushi Takizawa1

  • 1Department of Housing and Environmental Design, Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, 5588585 Japan.

Npj Urban Sustainability
|July 31, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Controlling human mobility is key to preventing COVID-19 spread. In Osaka, limiting grocery/pharmacy trips and encouraging park visits reduced cases, with urban transit found safe.

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Urban Planning
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Human mobility control is a strategy to mitigate infectious disease transmission, such as COVID-19.
  • Understanding specific mobility patterns' impact is crucial for effective pandemic management.
  • The Osaka metropolitan area provides a case study for medium-term pandemic analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify human mobility types influencing COVID-19 case numbers in Osaka.
  • To analyze the medium-term effects of mobility changes on disease spread.
  • To inform public health interventions and urban sustainability strategies.

Main Methods:

  • Statistical analysis of the relationship between human mobility fluctuations and COVID-19 case counts.
  • Focus on a two-week lag period between mobility changes and case increases.
  • Data collected from the Osaka metropolitan area during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Main Results:

  • Controlling mobility at grocery stores and pharmacies to a change of -5% to 5% is essential.
  • Maintaining park mobility above a -20% change is recommended.
  • Urban transit was not identified as a significant source of COVID-19 infection.

Conclusions:

  • Targeted control of specific human mobility types, like essential retail, is effective.
  • Encouraging the use of urban transit may be feasible for communities.
  • Implementing robust hygiene protocols, as seen in Osaka, can support the safe return to transit mobility.
Keywords:
Risk factorsScience, technology and society

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