Category Archives: Abstract

Abstract

Identified as a pandemic, COVID-19 has grown to be a global issue affecting countries worldwide. Within British Columbia, Canada, a state of emergency had been declared, allowing only essential businesses to keep running and restrictions on group gatherings, travel and many more. The aim of this paper is to conduct an exploratory analysis on the impacts the novel coronavirus has in Vancouver through a health and economic standpoint as well as an exploration on vulnerable and resilient occupations. Five main sections to this analysis were done. The first was to identify dissemination areas (DA) more physically at-risk, including seniors and those exposed to high PM2.5 concentrations. Location quotient (LQ) analysis and a weighted multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) model based on mortality rate was done. The second was to identify DAs more economically at-risk from an individual’s perspective. This layer included those whose occupations were from the service and sales industry, those who are 65 years old and over or spend 30% of their income or more on shelter costs. An LQ and MCE analysis was done on this layer as well. The third layer examined businesses that are most likely closed or losing business, including restaurants, bars, etc using a heatmap. The final map was a MCE which combined the above 3 layers to identify regions that are negatively affected in a health and economic standpoint. Additional analysis was done including a diversity index and LQ heatmaps for occupations negatively impacted or resilient. Results from this study showcased a final MCE detailing multiple viewpoints to identify vulnerable communities. Overlapping data shows that dissemination areas near Mount-Pleasant, South Cambie and Downtown communities may be focus areas for COVID-19 policy response efforts.