Effects of climatological parameters on the outbreak spread of COVID-19 in highly affected regions of Spain

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is infecting the human population, killing people, and destroying livelihoods. This research sought to explore the associations of daily average temperature (AT) and air quality (PM 2.5) with the daily new cases of COVID-19 in the top four regions of Spain (Castilla y Leon, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, and Madrid). To this end, the authors employ Pearson correlation, Spearman correlation, and robust panel regressions to quantify the overall co-movement between temperature, air quality, and daily cases of COVID-19 from 29 February to 17 July 2020. Overall empirical results show that temperature may not be a determinant to induce COVID-19 spread in Spain, while the rising temperature may reduce the virus transmission. However, the correlation and regression findings illustrate that air quality may speed up the transmission rate of COVID-19. Our findings are contrary to the earlier studies, which show a significant impact of temperature in raising the COVID-19 spread. The conclusions of this work can serve as an input to mitigate the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Spain and reform policies accordingly. Keywords COVID-19. Temperature. Air quality. Spain. Spearman correlation Highlights • The association between temperature, air quality, and COVID-19 in Spain is examined. • The study applied Pearson correlation, Spearman correlation, and panel data regressions on highly affected regions of Spain. • Temperature may not induce the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain. • Air quality tends to have positive association with COVID-19 in the top four regions of Spain

Meteorological factors, COVID-19 cases, and deaths in top 10 most affected countries: an econometric investigation

“…Alternatively, the findings conclude that air pressure, humidity, and temperature significantly affect the cases in Peru. Air pressure, PM2.5, and temperature have a statistically significant impact (at 1% level of significance) on the rising cases in Russia and Spain (contradicting the result by Briz-Redón and Serrano-Aroca ( 2020 ) and Shahzad et al ( 2020 ) which prove no relation between temperature and Covid-19 cases in Spain). The UK exhibits a statistically significant impact by humidity, temperature, and wind speed on its confirmed cases.…”

“…The developing countries categorized by the slow growth rate, poor healthcare infrastructure, and large population (a majority of them living in extreme poverty) have been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic (Sharma et al 2020b , c ). The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a substantial loss of human capital of the economy (Shahzad et al 2020 ). It thus increased the total (public and private) expenditure on healthcare (Lee and McKibbin 2004 ).…”

Nexus Between the COVID-19 Dynamics and Environmental Pollution Indicators in South America

“…Cone of influence separates the significant region from the rest with a thick black lining drawn from top to bottom on both sides. 14,36,37 Results and Discussion Argentina, and Colombia have been the most affected countries by the COVID-19 outbreak, where lack of health facilities and state response have contributed to the most infections in these countries. We utilized the Kendall correlation coefficient to examine the correlation association between variables included in the study.…”

“…Cone of influence separates the significant region from the rest with a thick black lining drawn from top to bottom on both sides. 14 , 36 , 37 …”

Presentation of a developed sub-epidemic model for estimation of the COVID-19 pandemic and assessment of travel-related risks in Iran

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