IntroductionThe global spread of the COVID-19 has brought about global changes, especially in terms of economic growth. Therefore, it has become a global issue to explore the impact of public health security on the economy.MethodsEmploying a dynamic spatial Durbin model, this study analyzes the spatial linkage mechanism of medical level, public health security, and economic climate in 19 countries as well as investigates the relationship between economic climate and COVID-19 by the panel data of 19 OECD European Union countries from March 2020 to September 2022.ResultsResults show that an improvement in the medical level can reduce the negative impact of public health security on the economy. Specifically, there is a significant spatial spillover effect. The degree of economic prosperity hurts the reproduction rate of COVID-19.DiscussionPolicymakers should consider both the severity of the public health security issues and the economic level when developing prevention and control policies. Given this, corresponding suggestions provide theoretical support for formulating policies to reduce the economic impact of public health security issues.