German Study: India Highly Vulnerable To Coronavirus Outbreak

by GoNews Desk 4 years ago Views 2872

Coronavirus Breaks Out In Highly Vulnerable India 
An extensive German study using air traffic shows that India is highly prone to the global risk of importing Coronavirus, with seven Indian airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi — being at the highest risk of importation.

According to the mathematical model developed by the researchers from Humboldt University and Robert Koch Institute in Germany, India is the 17th most likely country likely to fall prey to Coronavirus. India has reported 3 coronavirus positive cases.


As of March 1, 2020, 86013 total cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide. Of these, 79251 cases are in Mainland China and 6762 cases are in 62 other countries.

Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia are the top 10 nations susceptible to Coronavirus. The report identifies air travel as the major source for the spread of the virus. “The busier a flight route, the more probable it is that an infected passenger travels this route. Using these probabilistic concepts, we calculate the relative import risk to other airports. When calculating the import risk, we also take into account connecting flights and travel routes that involve multiple destinations,” it notes.

Apart from its size, India is cause for concern because of the density of its population: 420 people live on each square kilometre, compared with 148 per square kilometre in China.

Among the airports in India, the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi is most at risk, followed by airports in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, according to the model.

"The spread of the virus on an international scale is dominated by air travel," said the study.

"The busier a flight route, the more probable it is that an infected passenger travels this route. Using these probabilistic concepts, we calculate the relative import risk to other airports. When calculating the import risk, we also take into account connecting flights and travel routes that involve multiple destinations," said the study.

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