Assessing the Impact of Meteorological Factors on COVID-19 Seasonality in Metropolitan Chennai, India

• Published in: Toxics (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 8; p. 440
• Main Authors: Suman, Thodhal Yoganandham, Keerthiga, Rajendiran, Remya, Rajan Renuka, Jacintha, Amali, Jeon, Junho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.08.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Air pollution; Atmospheric models; Atmospheric pressure; barometric pressure; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Data analysis; Disease transmission; Environmental aspects; Epidemics; Fatalities; Health aspects; Health care; Humidity; linear regression model; Nitric oxide; Pandemics; Particulate matter; Pollutants; Public health; Rainy season; seasonal; Seasonal variations; Seasons; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; temperature; Variables; Viral diseases; Weather; Wind; Wind speed; China; Tamil Nadu India; India
• ISSN: 2305-6304; 2305-6304
• DOI: 10.3390/toxics10080440

Meteorological factors may influence coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. Due to the small number of time series studies, the relative importance of seasonality and meteorological factors is still being debated. From March 2020 to April 2021, we evaluated the impact of meteorological factors on the transmission of COVID-19 in Chennai, India. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic spreads over the year is critical to developing public health strategies. Correlation models were used to examine the influence of meteorological factors on the transmission of COVID-19. The results revealed seasonal variations in the number of COVID-19-infected people. COVID-19 transmission was greatly aggravated by temperature, wind speed, nitric oxide (NO) and barometric pressure (BP) during summer seasons, whereas wind speed and BP aggravated COVID-19 transmission during rainy seasons. Furthermore, PM 2.5, NO and BP aggravated COVID-19 transmission during winter seasons. However, their relationships fluctuated seasonally. Our research shows that seasonal influences must be considered when developing effective interventions.