Study investigates spatial variability in increasing public awareness for voluntary COVID-19 testing Elsevierconnect SpatialVariability COVID19 SARSCoV2 Testing VoluntaryTesting
By Pooja Toshniwal PahariaOct 17 2022Reviewed by Aimee Molineux In a recent study published in Applied Geography, researchers explored the spatial variability in increasing public awareness of the efficacy of coronavirus disease 2019 testing.
About the study The present study investigated spatial variability in increasing public awareness to improve medical resource usage and willingness to confront the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic. Thirty SARS-CoV-2 testing stations in hospitals that were CECC -established were utilized for representing facilities for resource supply, all of which provided RT-PCR tests. The everyday average human movement volume among TAZs was estimated by TRTS-IV , and the estimations were conducted by DORTS of the Taipei government in the year 2015.
The ICR and DIP measures were evaluated to determine improvements in resource use and epidemic reduction, respectively. Further, the influence of geographic factors on the local benefit index was investigated by measuring the attractiveness and proximity of each place. The elevated demand triggered by increasing willingness for testing, therefore, could not be satisfied completely in the case of high-level public awareness. In the case of low public awareness, focusing on unattractive areas could increase testing benefits, and testing willingness showed similar temporal patterns.