Analysis of COVID-19 outbreak using GIS and SEIR model

COVID-19 originated from Wuhan (China) in December 2019 and has spread rapidly throughout the world. As of August 2020, COVID 19 has affected more than 200 countries and has caused approximately 8 million casualties to date. Government agencies are announcing several mitigation measures based on the guidelines issued by the WHO and the UN. Presently, the top five countries badly affected by this virus are the USA, Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa. Geographic Information System (GIS) is the technology used to detect, store, manipulate, and analyze spatial (latitude and longitude) information and may be used effectively for understanding and responding to the disease outbreak by real- or near real-time mapping of the diseases. In this study, we make an attempt to generate the Heatmaps (a graphical representation) in a GIS environment using QGIS (an open-source GIS software). Further, we extend the analysis of the study to the prediction of possible COVID-19 outbreak in India using SEIR (Susceptible—Exposed-Infectious-Recovered) model. SEIR model may be used for the prediction of any epidemic disease. This study may help researchers to analyze and predict the COVID-19.