A cross-sectional analysis of meteorological factors and SARS-CoV-2 transmission in 409 cities across 26 countries.

ABSTRACT: There is conflicting evidence on the influence of weather on COVID-19 transmission. Our aim is to estimate weather-dependent signatures in the early phase of the pandemic, while controlling for socio-economic factors and non-pharmaceutical interventions. We identify a modest non-linear association between mean temperature and the effective reproduction number (R_e) in 409 cities in 26 countries, with a decrease of 0.087 (95% CI: 0.025; 0.148) for a 10 °C increase. Early interventions have a greater effect on R_e with a decrease of 0.285 (95% CI 0.223; 0.347) for a 5th - 95th percentile increase in the government response index. The variation in the effective reproduction number explained by government interventions is 6 times greater than for mean temperature. We find l

SUBMITTER: Sera F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8514574 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature