Thematic Mapping of COVID-19 Spread in Nigeria: A Tool for Pandemic Rapid Containment Measures

Abstract. Since the end of 2019, pneumonia, later named 2019 novel corona virus disease (COVID-19), originated in Wuhan and rapidly spread throughout the globe including Nigeria. This study explored the techniques of Thematic mapping in assessing the spread of COVID-19 across the thirty-six states in Nigeria with the main objective of showing how thematic maps can be employed in explaining pandemic situations for easy interpretation and quick decisionmaking. The study relies on publicly available data on confirmed cases and death across Nigeria from the website of Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC). Geo-visualization analysis technique was adopted for this study with results presented in form of maps. Results show that Lagos (34.7%, 18.8%) Kaduna (6.0%, 4.0%) Plateau (5.5%, 3.4%) Oyo (4.5%, 3.9%) Rivers (3.9%,4.9%) states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja (13.4%, 7.9%) are hardly hit by COVID-19 in terms of the total number of both confirmed cases (90,147) and deaths (1,311) cases respectively as at Sunday 3th of January, 2021. The use of thematic maps for easy explanations, effective planning, preparedness and response to pandemic phenomena was equally established by this study. Since the virus spreads easily through human to human contact, it is recommended that restrictions of movements should be the priority of every concern stakeholder.