Socio-environmental inequality and the capacity to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic: assessment of the geospatial vulnerability in Fortaleza-CE

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic emerges as the greatest challenge of the 21st century for the global society. The more restrictive socioeconomic conditions can contribute to the spread and increase in mortality from the disease. This context is very present in developing countries, such as Brazil. In this article, we investigate the socio-environmental inequality in the city of Fortaleza, capital of the State of Ceará, and the reported cases of people affected and killed by COVID-19. We selected social, economic, urban and housing infrastructure indicators for the city's neighborhoods and related them to the records of the 23rd epidemiological week. We represented these data spatially and analyzed legislative innovations to face the pandemic. Finally, we evaluated the capacity of adaptation and of dealing with of the population groups and of the public management in the face of problems arising from the new coronavirus. Considering the selected epidemiological week, we found a relationship between vulnerability conditions and deaths. The most vulnerable groups are more likely to die from COVID-19. This article can contribute to strategic decisions aimed at controlling the disease for the coming weeks and subsidize municipal urban management.