Research Methods
The incidence of COVID-19 can be defined as “the occurrence of new cases of a disease in a population over a specific period of time” \citep{Lozier2020}. It can be calculated using the following formula:
\[\text{cases per 100,000 population}=\frac{\text{number of new cases of disease during specified period}}{\text{size of population during start of period}}\cdot100000\]
This formula allows researchers to compare and contrast the burden of COVID-19 across countries. Lozier also states that this will inform decisions regarding COVID-19. In order to calculate incidence rates for every country, the WHO’s Data Table of COVID-19 entries for the total cumulative cases of COVID-19 will be divided by the population data for each country. The data for the population last 2019 will be collected from The World Bank’s database.