No association of COVID-19 transmission with temperature or UV radiation in Chinese cities

Abstract

Italy was the rst, among all the European countries, to be strongly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (Sars-CoV-2). The virus, proven to be very contagious, infected more than 9 million people worldwide (in June 2020). Nevertheless, it is not clear the role of air pollution and meteorological conditions on virus transmission. In this study, we quantitatively assessed how the meteorological and air quality parameters are correlated to the Covid-19 transmission in Lombardy (Northern Italy), the region epicenter of the virus outbreak. Our main ndings highlight that temperature and humidity related variables are negatively correlated to the virus transmission, whereas air pollution (PM 2.5) shows a positive correlation. In other words, Covid-19 pandemic transmission prefers dry and cool environmental conditions, as well as polluted air. For these reasons, the virus might easier spread in un ltered air-conditioned environments. Those results will be supporting decision makers to contain new possible outbreaks.

Impact of climate and public health interventions on the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective cohort study

“…Our results are concordant with 3 studies from China, 29-31 which reported no evidence for an association of epidemic growth with temperature and relative humidity, 29 but strong decreases in epidemic growth associated with public health measures. 30,31 A recent rapid systematic review concluded that the evidence to support national closure of schools to combat COVID-19 is very weak and that data from influenza outbreaks suggest that school closures could have relatively small effects on SARS-CoV-2 owing to its high transmissibility and apparent low clinical effect on school children.…”

COVID-19 pandemic: examining the faces of spatial differences in the morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and USA

“…The outcome of our study suggests that COVID-19, like the flu disease category, thrive better in low temperatures. This result is consistent with Sajadi et al(2020) who reported distribution of significant community outbreaks along restricted latitude, temperature and humidity which are consistent with the behavior of seasonal respiratory virus Yao et al (2020). however submit that there was no relationship between temperature (and radiation) and COVID-19 cases in the cities of China.…”

Why does the COVID-19 outbreak in Mexico seem to be slower? Some hypotheses for testing

“…However, their data are not conclusive because the adjusted curve diminishes on both sides around a peak, making it di cult to interpret. In China, Yao et al (2020) found no relationship between average UVI and COVID case numbers, but in one region (Hubei), these authors show a possible negative correlation. Other unpublished studies have tried to resolve weather effects on a pandemic, with no conclusive results (Xu et al 2020).…”