When the Covid-19 epidemic began, many experts believed the virus would become seasonal, like the flu. The weather, hot or cold, has no influence on the spread of the virus, according to a new study.
What does the study on temperature and the coronavirus reveal?
In the new study published on October 26, in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, it is stated that temperature and humidity do not play a significant role in the Sars-Cov-2 virus. Indeed, the authors of the study conclude that “ the assessment indicated misconceptions and possible biases in the analysis, mainly when the study only focused on the effects of weather variables alone “. And to add that ” no convincing evidence has been found to include weather as a significant contributor in and of itself to the spread of COVID-19 “. According to the researchers, the spread of the coronavirus depends almost entirely on human behavior and respect for barrier gestures (social distancing, wearing a mask, disinfecting the hands, etc.).
Human behaviors
The data collected by the scientists took into consideration several factors in their study, including the urban area and its density. According to Professor Dev Niyogi, who led the study at the University of Texas at Austin, the link between weather and Covid-19 is ” complicated “. The weather influences the environment, which affects human behavior. He also said that “ the effect of the weather is small and other characteristics such as mobility have more impact than the weather “And that in” in terms of materiality, weather is one of the last parameters “. The attitudes adopted by humans and in particular individual behavior, however, play a significant role in the spread of the virus. According to scientists, two predominant factors have contributed to the exponential growth of the virus: traveling and spending time away from home, with a ” relative importance of about 34% and 26% respectively “. The size of the population is also involved at 23% as well as the urban density at 13%. Regarding meteorology, it is not, on its own, an influencing factor, since its ” relative importance Is less than 3%. One of the co-authors of the study stated that “ we should not view the problem as something determined by weather and climate “, but that “ we need to take personal precautions, be aware of urban exposure factors “.
