DESPARDES — Scientists from the Global Virus Network at the University of Maryland in the US, along with Iranian scientists, used latest climate models to see how the prevalence of COVID-19 depends on the weather.
Their study shows that Coronavirus spreads over 30 degrees Celsius and 50 degree north latitude on the world map (an observation we reported earlier). Temperatures in this band range from five degrees to 11 degrees Celsius, and the humidity here is 47 to 79 percent.
The regions most affected by Corona, including China’s Hubei Province, South Korea, Iran, Italy, and France, are located on the same 30-50 degree north latitude band, and had similar temperature gradient.
Their research has been published on a social science research network platform that publishes the results of the initial stages of the ongoing investigation into the Coronavirus.
Scientists at MIT University, a research center in the United States, have also done a similar research on the impact of weather on the Coronavirus. Scientists participating in the study, Qasim Bukhari and Yusuf Jamil, conducted a global review of the Coronavirus outbreak and concluded exactly what was described above.
In their research paper, Qasim Bukhari and Yusuf Jamil wrote that 90% of the cases of Coronavirus have been exposed in regions with temperatures of three degrees to 17 degrees Celsius this (cold) season and humidity in the air is four (very low).
According to their article, the same pattern has emerged in the United States and the spread of the Coronavirus is more prevalent in the northern and colder states.
They write that in a country where the average temperature is above 18 degrees, only six percent of the cases of COVID-19 have been reported.
Scientists say that viruses whose outer shell is made of fat are all seasonal, meaning they are more prone to cold weather while heat is fatal to them.
The recent coronavirus is made up of fat. Just as it stays frozen in the winter and becomes liquid in summer, in the hot weather, the outer shell of the virus melts and its pores are scattered. Thus it is unable to make people sick, they say.
Original report in The Independent UK (Urdu)
