The socio-spatial features of the COVID-19 pandemic: the formation of new disability issues (global and Hungarian trends)

In the period of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community had only little knowledge about the nature of this virus. The regional appearance of the infection was particularly undiscovered, and
we knew very little about the social and residential situation of those affected by the disease. Only a few international studies were published on this topic. It soon became evident that it was necessary to explore the
social and regional background of the problem caused by the pandemic, which spread very fast in the world, especially in the large cities. In addition, the COVID pandemic produced several new manifestation forms
of disability issues, which created the social disability concept. That is why some researchers have decided to explore the social background of the problem. This study focuses on four main objectives. The first one is
to reveal the global and European trends of the socio-spatial characteristics of the pandemic. The second objective is analyzing the socio-spatial distribution of COVID-19 infections in Hungary based on the results of an empirical survey (based on a sample of 1000 people) carried out by the Centre for Social Sciences Institute for Sociology in 2021. The third aim is to present and to compare the Hungarian mitigation measures
(restrictions, regulations) on both national and local (municipal) level. Finally, the study would like to conclude the similarities and the differences between the global and the Hungarian situation.