Mediterranean basin in the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation noted a threefold increase in the number of deaths in the region between September and December 2020, with COVID-19 projected to become the fourth leading cause of death by early 2021. Yet significant discrepancies in both indicators and quality of data reported across the MENA region limit our understanding of the scope and the implications of the pandemic in the Arab context. The aim of our research is to understand if there is some association between COVID and health and economic situation in the countries of Mediterranean Basin. We have firstly described some economic and health factors (IMR, Gini index for evaluate inequalities, and share of poverty in the two shores of Mediterranean Sea. Then through the cluster analysis we have obtained an overview of the countries outlining two cluster that override precisely the two regions, the European one and the Asian-African one. The greatest inequalities, the highest infant mortality, the largest share of people below the poverty line are associated with the higher prevalence of Covid. It should be noted that in the countries of south eastern shore the data are not excellent and therefore caution is required in the interpretation of the results.