Effects of Temperature and Humidity on COVID-19 Transmission in Tropical Climate: The Case of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Abstract
The study investigates the impact of temperature and humidity on COVID-19 cases in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Several studies have identified a relationship between meteorological indicators the number of cases. However, the lack of a study of COVID-19 in tropical climate countries was the strong motivation for this research. There was no studies conducted in Bangladesh to determine how weather variables impact on COVID-19 transmission in its tropical climate. The meteorological influence on coronavirus in tropical climate is different from that of coldest countries or in the season of cool temperatures. Therefore, this study intends to add a new dimension to the COVID-19 research. Number of daily COVID-19 cases and daily weather data of Dhaka have been used. The meteorological indicators included in the study are minimum temperature, maximum temperature, average temperature, minimum humidity, maximum humidity, and average humidity. Each of these variables were evaluated based on four time frames, namely, on the day of the case, within 3, 7, and 14 days of the case to address the right incubation period. Spearman's rank correlation test between March 30, 2020 and May 9, 2020 with different incubation periods were applied for data analysis. Results suggest that COVID-19 transmission has a negative and positive correlation with temperature and humidity, respectively. It indicates lower temperatures and higher relative humidity favored the COVID-19 transmission. The highest correlations were observed for average humidity 14 days ago, and maximum temperature 7 days ago respectively. Maximum temperature within 7 and 14 days, and average temperature within 7 days show a moderate correlation, whereas, minimum humidity within 3, 7, and 14 days, maximum humidity within 3 and 7 days, and on the day of the cases, and average humidity within 3, 7, and 14 days show moderate correlation with the number of cases. Understanding the proper relationship between climate indicators and COVID-19 pandemic will be useful for the projection and early warning for disease severity.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMGH002..05I
- Keywords:
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- 3305 Climate change and variability;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 0240 Public health;
- GEOHEALTH;
- 1934 International collaboration;
- INFORMATICS;
- 4322 Health impact;
- NATURAL HAZARDS