Influence of important environmental parameters on the spread and severity of COVID-19: Part 1

Abstract

In the absence of the detailed COVID-19 epidemiological data or large benchmark studies, an effort has been made to explore and correlate the relation of parameters like environment, economic indicators, and the large scale exposure of different prevalent diseases, with COVID-19 spread and severity amongst the different countries affected by COVID-19. Data for environmental, socio-economic and others important infectious diseases were collected from reliable and open source resources like World Health Organization, World Bank, etc. Further, this large data set is utilized to understand the COVID-19 worldwide spread using simple statistical tools. Important observations that are made in this study are the high degree of resemblance in the pattern of temperature and humidity distribution among the cities severely affected by COVID-19. Further, It is surprising to see that in spite of the presence of many environmental parameters that are considered favorable (like clean air, clean water, EPI, etc.), many countries are suffering with the severe consequences of this disease. Lastly a noticeable segregation among the locations affected by different prevalent diseases (like Malaria, HIV, Tuberculosis, and Cholera) was also observed. Among the considered environmental factors, temperature, humidity and EPI should be an important parameter in understanding and modelling COVID-19 spreads. Further, contrary to intuition, countries with strong economies, good health infrastructure and cleaner environment suffered disproportionately higher with the severity of this disease. Therefore, policymaker should sincerely review their country preparedness toward the potential future contagious diseases, weather natural or manmade.