Risk perception, spatial data, legal response during COVID-19 pandemic: a conceptual model

The first European COVID-19 outbreak was identified in Italy; we present the Italian response to the crisis generated by the January-April 2020 wave using an interdisciplinary approach. We discuss the outbreak evolution tightly linked to political/legal/social responses to the epidemic. We draw considerations on the risk perception among population and decision makers, on characteristics of social behavior in this critical period, on means of communication employment. We describe (spatial) data and their instantiation in medical, healthcare, epidemiological, and socio-economic databases. Finally, we represent the Data-Spatiality-Sociality and Legal (DSS-L) response nexus conceptualizing the interplay of the responses given to the pandemic from the (spatial) data, social and legal perspectives.