AUC GEOGRAPHICA

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the inhabitants of Mexico City. With over 9 million people living in 16 districts, infections and mortality rates varied greatly. In this article, demographic and socio-economic factors were analyzed to determine vulnerability and exposure to COVID-19 during the crisis from 27 February 2020 to 10 May 2021. The study revealed that mortality and infections were distributed differently across the districts of Mexico City. The districts with the most confirmed cases did not necessarily have the highest death rates. Many deaths were linked to age and comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Poverty, overcrowding, the lack of space, and basic services contributed to vulnerability and exposure to the disease. Inequalities in the city’s development over time resulted in varying degrees of vulnerability and exposure to COVID-19, leading to different patterns of infections and deaths across the districts. The prevalence of infections in the city´s southwestern districts can be attributed to the combination of marginalization, poverty, and inadequate services. Conversely, the northwest areas of the city, with a higher concentration of elderly residents, experienced a greater number of fatalities.

1. Alcántara-Ayala, I. (2021): COVID-19, beyond the virus: An outlook to the anatomy of a syndemic pan-disaster. Investigaciones Geográficas 104, 1-15. CrossRef

2. Alcántara-Ayala, I., Gomez, Ch., Chmutina, K., van Niekerk, D., Raju, E., Marchezini, V., Cadag, J. R., Gaillard, J. C. (2023): Disaster Risk. London: Taylor & Francis. CrossRef

3. Alcántara-Ayala, I., Burton, I., Lavell, A., Mansilla, E., Maskrey, A., Oliver-Smith, A., Ramírez-Gómez, F. (2021): Root causes and policy dilemmas of the COVID-19 pandemic global disaster. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 52: 101892. CrossRef

4. Almagro, M., Orane-Hutchinson, A. (2022): The determinants of the differential exposure to COVID-19 in New York city and their evolution over time. Journal of Urban Economics 127: 103293. CrossRef

5. Alpuche-Aranda, C. (2020): Infecciones emergentes, el gran reto de la salud global: Covid-19. Salud Pública de México 62(2). CrossRef

6. Blaikie, P., Cannon, T., Davis, I., Wisner, B. (1994): At Risk: Natural Hazards, People Vulnerability and Disasters. London: Routledge. CrossRef

7. Ciupa, T., Suligowski, R. (2021): Green-Blue Spaces and Population Density versus COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Poland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18: 6636. CrossRef

8. CONAPO (2020): Índices de marginación 2020. Publicaciones recientes. Available online: https://www.gob.mx/conapo/documentos/indices-de-marginacion-2020-284372 (accessed on 28 February 2023).

9. CONEVAL (2020): Indicadores de pobreza por municipio. Medición de la pobreza, Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 2010-2020. Anexo estadístico. Available online: https://www.coneval.org.mx/Medicion/Paginas/Pobreza-municipio-2010-2020.aspx (accessed on 7 March 2023).

10. Connolly, C., Keil, R., Harris Ali, S. (2021): Extended urbanisation and the spatialities of infectious disease: Demographic change, infrastructure and governance. Urban Studies 58(2), 245-263. CrossRef

11. Corburn, J., Vlahov, D., Mberu, B. et al. (2020): Slum health: arresting COVID-19 and improving well-being in urban informal settlements. Journal of Urban Health 97, 348-357. CrossRef

12. Cortez-Gómez, R., Muñoz-Martínez, R., Ponce-Jimenez, P. (2020): Vulnerabilidad estructural de los pueblos indígenas ante el COVID-19. Boletín sobre Covid-19, Salud Pública y Epidemiología (Structural vulnerability of indigenous peoples to COVID-19. Bulletin on Covid-19, Public Health and Epidemiology) 1 (7-8), 7-10. In Spanish. Available online: https://dsp.facmed.unam.mx/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/COVID-19-No.7-8-04-Vulnerabilidad-estructural-de-los-pueblos-indigenas.pdf (accessed on 22 March 2023).

13. Credit, K. (2020): Neighbourhood: Exploring the factors underlying racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 testing and infection rates using ZIP code data in Chicago and New York. Center for Spatial Data Science. Regional Science Policy and Practice 12 (6), 1249-1271. CrossRef

14. Cvetković, V. M., Nikolić, N., Radovanović Nenadić, U., Öcal, A. K. Noji, E., Zečević, M. (2020): Preparedness and preventive behaviors for a pandemic disaster caused by COVID-19 in Serbia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(11): 4124. CrossRef

15. D'cruz, M., Banerjee, D. (2020): An invisible human rights crisis': The marginalization of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic - An advocacy review. Psychiatry Research 292: 1133699. CrossRef

16. De La Cruz-Hernández, S. I., Álvarez-Contreras, A. K. (2022): COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico: The Response and Reopening. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 16(6), 2264-2266. CrossRef

17. Dirección General de Epidemiología (DGE) (2021): Información General (General Information). Secretaría de Salud. In Spanish. Available online: https://datos.covid-19.conacyt.mx (accessed on 23 January 2023).

18. ECLAC (2020): Salud y economía: una convergencia necesaria para enfrentar el COVID-19 y retomar la senda hacia el desarrollo sostenible en América Latina y el Caribe. Informe COVID-19 (Health and economy: a necessary convergence to face COVID-19 and resume the path towards sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean. COVID-19 report). In Spanish. Available online: https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/45840/S2000462_es.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y (accessed on 15 March 2023).

19. Fakhruddin, B., Blanchard, K., Ragupathy, D. (2020): Are we there yet? The transition from response to recovery for the COVID-19 pandemic. Progress in Disaster Science (7): 100102. CrossRef

20. Hidayati, D., Widayatun Situmorang, A. (2023): The Importance of Family and Community Approach in Reducing the Risk Faced by the Elderly During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Disaster Research 18(4), 415-423. CrossRef

21. Jovanović, A., Klimek, P., Renn, O., Schneider, R., Øien, K., Brown, J., DiGennaro, M., Liu, Y., Pfau, V., Jelic, M., Rosen, T., Caillard, B., Chakravarty, S., Chhantyal, P. (2020): Assessing resilience of healthcare infrastructure exposed to COVID-19: emerging risks, resilience indicators, interdependencies and international standards. Environment Systems and Decisions 40, 252-286. CrossRef

22. Kakaşçı, Ç. G., Bakır, N., Demir, C. (2022): The effect of pecha-kucha training on fear and belief in myths of COVID-19 in elderly women. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 82: 103353. CrossRef

23. Knaul, F. M., Arreola-Ornelas, H., Touchton, M., McDonald, T., Blofield, M., Avila Burgos, L., Gómez-Dantés, O., Kuri, P., Martínez-Valle, A., Méndez-Carniado, O., Nargund, R. S., Porteny, T., Sosa-Rubí, S. G., Serván-Mori, E., Symes, M., Vargas Enciso, V., Frenk, J. (2023): Setbacks in the quest for universal health coverage in Mexico: Polarised politics, policy upheaval, and pandemic disruption. The Lancet 402(10403), 731-746. CrossRef

24. Hamidi, S., Hamidi, I. (2021): Subway Ridership, Crowding, or Population Density: Determinants of COVID-19 Infection Rates in New York City. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 60 (5), 614-620. CrossRef

25. INEGI (2020): Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020. Available online: https://censo2020.mx (accessed on 13 February 2023).

26. INEGI & INSP (2018): Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Presentación de resultados. Available online: https://ensanut.insp.mx/encuestas/ensanut2018/doctos/informes/ensanut_2018_presentacion_resultados.pdf (accessed on 21 February 2023).

27. Johns Hopkins University (2023): COVID-19 Case Tracker. Coronavirus Resource Center. Available online: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html (accessed on 10 February 2023).

28. Karesh, W. B., Dobson, A., Lloyd-Smith, J. O., Lubroth, J., Dixon, M. A., Bennett, M., Aldrich, S., Harrington, T., Formenty, P., Loh, E. H., Machalaba, C. C., Mathew, J., Haymann, D. L. (2004): Ecology of zoonoses: natural and unnatural histories. The Lancet 380 (9857), 1936-1945. CrossRef

29. Kim, J., Ashihara, K. (2020): National disaster management system: COVID-19 case in Korea. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(18): 6691. CrossRef

30. Lavell, A., Lavell, Ch. (2020): El COVID-19: Relaciones con el riesgo de desastres, su concepto y gestión. KNOW-Conocimiento en acción para la Igualdad Urbana. SG FLACSO y DPU-USL, Londres: 1-43. Available online: https://arise.mx/quiqueg/uploads/2020/03/Lavell_Covid-19_Covid_and_disasters_ESP.pdf (accessed on 3 April 2023).

31. Lavell, A., Maskrey, M. (2014): The future of disaster risk management. Environmental Hazards 13(4), 267-280. CrossRef

32. Lavell, A., Mansilla, E., Maskrey, A., Ramirez, F. (2020): La construcción social de la pandemia COVID-19: desastre, acumulación de riesgos y políticas públicas. LA RED (Red de estudios sociales para la prevención de desastres en América Latina). Available online: https://www.desenredando.org/covid19/Construcci%C3%B3n-social-pandemia-Covid19-desastre-riesgo-politicas-publicas-RNI-LA-RED-23-04-2020.pdf (accessed on 27 March 2023).

33. Li, J.-Y., You, Z., Wang, Qi., Zhou, Z.-J., Qiu, Y., Luo, R., Ge, X.-Y. (2020): The epidemic of 2019-novel-coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia and insights for emerging infectious diseases in the future. Microbes and Infection 22(2), 80-85. CrossRef

34. Liera, C., Dickin, S., Rishworth, A., Bisung, E., Moreno, A., Elliott, S. J. (2023): Human rights, COVID-19, and barriers to safe water and sanitation among people experiencing homelessness in Mexico City. Frontiers in Water 5: 1054182. CrossRef

35. Luna-Nemecio, J. (2020): Determinaciones socioambientales del COVID-19 y vulnerabilidad económica, espacial y sanitario-institucional. Revista de Ciencias Sociales 26(2), 21-26. CrossRef

36. Maital, S., Barzani, E. (2020): The global economic impact of COVID-19: A summary of research. Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy Research, 1-12. Available online: https://www.neaman.org.il/EN/Files/Global%20Economic%20Impact%20of%20COVID19.pdf (accessed on 6 April 2023).

37. Martínez-Martínez, A. L., Clemente Soler, J. A., Rodríguez Guillén, D. (2020): La tercera edad como población vulnerable ante el Covid-19. Revista Kairós-Gerontologia 23, (Número Temático Especial 28, "COVID-19 e Envelhecimento"), 365-378. Available online: https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/kairos/article/view/51492/33647 (accessed on 10 March 2023).

38. Martins-Filho, P. R. (2021): Relationship between population density and COVID-19 incidence and mortality estimates: A county-level analysis. Journal of Infection and Public Health 14 (8), 1087-1088. CrossRef

39. Morens, D. M., Fauci, A. S. (2013): Emerging Infectious Diseases: Threats to Human Health and Global Stability. PLoS Pathogens 9(7): e1003467. CrossRef

40. Morse, S. S. (2004): Factors and determinants of disease emergence. Revue Scientifique et Technique 23(2), 443-451. CrossRef

41. Mostafanezhad, M. (2020): Covid-19 is an unnatural disaster: Hope in revelatory moments of crisis. Tourism Geographies 22(3): 639-645. CrossRef

42. Nurunnabi, M., Almusharraf, N., Aldeghaither, D. (2020): Mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education: Evidence from G20 countries. Journal of Public Health Research 9(1_suppl). CrossRef

43. Oliver-Smith, A., Alcántara-Ayala, I., Burton, I., Lavell, A. (2016): Forensic Investigations of Disasters (FORIN): a conceptual framework and guide to research. México: Integrated Research on Disaster Risk, Instituto de Geografía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Available online: https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:134452702 (accessed on 4 February 2023).

44. Oliver-Smith, A., Alcántara-Ayala, I., Burton, I., Lavell, A. (2017): The social construction of disaster risk: Seeking root causes. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 22, 469-474. CrossRef

45. Ortega, A., Armenta, C., García, H., García, J. (2020): Índice de vulnerabilidad en la infraestructura de la vivienda ante el COVID-19 en México. Notas de Población 111. CEPAL. Available online: https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/46559/20-00528_LDN111_07_Diaz.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (accessed on 18 April 2023).

46. Pawar, M. (2020): The Global Impact of and Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The International Journal of Community and Social Development 2(2), 111-120. CrossRef

47. Porcel-Gálvez, A. M., Badanta, B., Barrientos-Trigo, S., Lima-Serrano, M. (2020): Personas mayores, dependencia y vulnerabilidad en la pandemia por coronavirus: emergencia, integración social y sanitaria. Enfermería Clínica 31(1), 18-23. CrossRef

48. Quinn, M. A., Rubb, S. (2005): The importance of education-occupation matching in migration decisions. Demography 42(1), 153-167. CrossRef

49. Rudianto, B., Hendra, Y. (2021): Communication of COVID-19 Pandemic Disaster in Indonesia. Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana 26(1), 46-54. Available online: https://www.redalyc.org/journal/279/27966119005/27966119005.pdf (accessed on 8 January 2024).

50. Sá, F. (2020): Socioeconomic Determinants of COVID-19 Infections and Mortality: Evidence from England and Wales. Policy paper series, IZA Policy Paper No. 159. Institute of Labor Economics. Available online: https://docs.iza.org/pp159.pdf (accessed on 11 January 2024).

51. Secretaría de Salud (2020): 266. Arranca vacunación contra COVID-19 en México. Available online: https://www.gob.mx/salud/prensa/266-arranca-vacunacion-contra-covid-19-en-mexico?idiom=es (accessed on February 8 2023).

52. Shekhar, H., Rautela, M., Maqsood, M., Paris, R., Flores de León, R.M., Romero-Aguirre, M. F., Balinos, M., Velázquez, M. E., Amri, G. S., Rahman, T., Asuah, A. Y., Hosni, J., Rahman, Md. S. (2022): Are leading urban centers predisposed to global risks-An analysis of the global south from COVID-19 perspective. Habitat International 121: 102517. CrossRef

53. Suárez, V., Suarez Quezada, M., Oros Ruiz, S., Ronquillo De Jesús, E. (2020): Epidemiología de COVID-19 en México: del 27 de febrero al 30 de abril de 2020. Revista Clínica Española 220(8), 463-471. CrossRef

54. UN General Assembly (2016): Report of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Indicators and Terminology Relating to Disaster Risk Reduction; United Nations General Assembly: 41p. New York. Available online: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/852089#record-files-collapse-header (accessed on 10 January 2024).

55. Vargas Sabadías, A. (1995): Estadística descriptiva e inferencial. Murcia. Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. Available online: https://books.google.cz/books?id=RbaC-wPWqjsC&printsec=frontcover&hl=cs#v=onepage&q&f=false.

56. Villerías, I., Juárez, M. (2020): México: las enfermedades crónico-degenerativas (diabetes melitus e hipertensión) y la vulnerabilidad ante el COVID-19. Posición. Revista Del Instituto De Investigaciones Geográficas 3, 1-15. Available online: https://posicion-inigeo.unlu.edu.ar/posicion/article/view/135 (accessed on 21 March 2023).

57. Weible, Ch. M., Nohrsted, D., Cairney, P., Carter, D. P., Crow, D. A., Durnová, A. P., Heikkila, T., Ingold, K., McConnell, A., Stone, D. (2020): COVID-19 and the policy sciences: initial reactions and perspectives. Policy Sciences 53, 225-241. CrossRef

58. Wisner, B., Blaikie, P., Cannon, T., Davis, I. (2004): At Risk: natural hazards, people's vulnerability and disasters. Psychology Press. Available online: https://www.preventionweb.net/files/670_72351.pdf (accessed on 17 January 2023).

59. Wong-Chew, R. M., Noyola, D. E., Villa, A. R. (2022): Clinical characteristics and mortality risk factors in patients aged less than 18 years with COVID-19 in Mexico and Mexico City. Anales de Pediatría (English Edition) 97(2), 119-128. CrossRef