An Analysis of Factors Behind Variations in COVID-19 Infections Between Urban and Rural Areas of Zimbabwe in 2020

The purpose of this study is to examine the answers provided by Zimbabwean medical professionals to a questionnaire regarding the variables driving the disparities in COVID-19 infections in Zimbabwe's urban and rural areas in 2020. The objective is to create appropriate, context-specific disease prevention and control plans at the district and provincial levels. A questionnaire survey study design consisting of closed-ended questions was utilized to collect data from medical professionals in Zimbabwe, specifically nurses and doctors, at the district and provincial levels. Microsoft Excel was used to examine the data. The findings show that urban areas had a higher number of COVID-19 cases in 2020 compared to rural ones. According to the results of the survey, a few other important factors that were linked to the urban COVID-19 outbreak were population density, ease of access to ports of entry, and the use of public transportation. A greater number of COVID-19 infections may have been recorded in urban than rural regions as a result of incorrect patient addresses found in a number of COVID-19 infection data. Out of the total of 27 respondents, twenty-one strongly agreed that the COVID-19 outbreak was caused by population density, while the remaining respondents agreed. The opinion that being close to points of entry, including airports and land borders, facilitated the spread of COVID-19 was strongly agreed and agreed upon by 20/27 and 7/27 respondents, respectively. The claim that the method of public transportation contributed to the spread of COVID-19 in metropolitan areas was agreed and strongly agreed upon by 9/27 and 14/27 respondents, respectively. 8/27 respondents strongly agreed that the reason there were more COVID-19 instances in urban provinces than in rural provinces was because there were more entertainment venues or places in urban areas than in rural ones. This viewpoint was agreed upon by 12/27 respondents. The results of the study suggest that the COVID-19 outbreak in Zimbabwe's urban provinces may have been facilitated by factors such as population density, accessibility to ports of entry, use of public transportation, and the availability of more leisure options in urban regions than in rural ones.