[Geography and health-the example of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bremen]

Geography is, among other things, the study of spatial and temporal changes in structures and processes. Health geography applies the methods, models, and paradigms of geography to health-related issues. The example of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bremen is used to illustrate the geographical perspective on health and its benefits.

The study is based on spatio-temporal data of new COVID-19 infections by calendar week at the district level in the city of Bremen between March 2020 and May 2022. In addition to the number of cases, selected indicators of the socio-demographic situation (e.g., household structure, social status, and migration status) were taken into account. Spatio-temporal analyses were performed descriptively and using linear regression models.

The first wave of the pandemic shows clear local differences and high incidence respectively period prevalence in individual city districts. For the later waves, a clustering with high case numbers in predominantly deprived city districts was identified. For example, in wave 2 there was an association between the number of cases and the number of persons per household (β = 1.099, p < 0.001) and in wave 4 with the SGBII rate (β = 0.056, p = 0.004).

The results show spatial differences in COVID-19 case numbers and a greater burden in deprived city districts. The study has shown the great benefit of a spatio-temporal perspective using the example of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bremen. This applies not only to the analysis of the dynamics of the pandemic, but also from a public health perspective to the identification of vulnerable populations and the implementation of targeted prevention measures.