Epidemiological Characteristics and Coping Strategies of COVID-19 in Shandong Province, China
Abstract Background: The COVID-19 spread from Hubei Province to the whole country and even many countries in the world, which has greatly impacted the public health,economic and social development in China and the world. This study aims to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in Shandong Province, analyze the incidence trends, and explore the coping strategies for providing the basis and reference for COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control. Methods: Descriptive analysis was performed for epidemiological characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 cases from Jan. 21, 2020 to Feb. 15, 2020, in Shandong Province, and the spatiotemporal distribution of confirmed cases was drawn. Results: As of Feb. 15, 2020, there were 537 confirmed cases in Shandong Province and the cumulative incidence was 0.53/100000. The daily number of new confirmed cases showed a trend of first increase and then decrease, and the increase rate of the cumulative confirmed cases showed a downward trend. The severe rate, critical rate, cured rate and fatality rate were 2.98%, 2.23%, 30.54%, and 0.37%. Confirmed cases were more Males than females, and the infected patients covered all age groups. The cumulative number of confirmed cases of the resident population in the province has gradually exceeded that of the population from other places to Shandong, and the number of patients who had a history of close contact with confirmed cases has significantly increased over time. Qingdao had the largest number of confirmed cases. Conclusions: Our findings analyzed the early period of the epidemic in Shandong Province, which provide a novel insight for epidemic prevention and control.