Community COVID-19 Vulnerability Index in India

K.C., S., Mishra, R., Mishra, R., & Shukla, A. (2020). Community COVID-19 Vulnerability Index in India. IIASA Working Paper. Laxenburg, Austria: WP-20-007

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Abstract

The population over age 50 and those suffering from chronic diseases are at a higher risk for severe infections and deaths due to Covid-19. The population of the elderly has increased in India since the census 2011 and more so in urban areas. Lack of sanitation and handwashing facilities compounded with congestion at homes makes it difficult to follow social distancing and maintaining proper hygiene and sanitation. Given the population size of the elderly, prevalence of co-morbidities, proportion of the population lacking basic water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, education level and the media exposure among household with at least on elderly, some areas of India are more vulnerable than the others. In this paper, we estimated several of these indicators for 640 districts of India using publicly available data and computed a community Covid-19 vulnerability index (CVI). We show that some areas of India are more at risk of severe infection and deaths than others. Identification of these areas at the lowest administrative level will help the government to define targeted interventions and campaigns and to be ready for the worst. We recommend the central and state governments to reach the vulnerable population through the vast network of local-level governments by empowering them to protect the community in their respective constituency.

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