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

  • MCC Collaborative Research Network
  • , CMMID COVID-19 Working Group
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • University of Florence
  • Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
  • European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
  • European Space Agency - ESA
  • Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
  • Nagasaki University
  • Graduate School of Medicine
  • Santé Publique France
  • Spanish Council for Scientific Research
  • Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine
  • Universität Bern
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
  • Anhui Medical University
  • Nanjing Medical University
  • University of Ottawa
  • Health Canada
  • Universidad de los Andes, Chile
  • Fudan University
  • National Institute of Public Health Prague
  • Charles University
  • Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
  • Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
  • University of Tartu
  • University of Oulu
  • Oulu University Hospital
  • Institut Pasteur, Paris
  • German Research Center for Environmental Health
  • Brunel University London
  • National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan
  • University of Tsukuba
  • Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Norwegian Institute of Public Health
  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography
  • Babes Bolyai University
  • Seoul National University
  • University of Valencia
  • Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute Swiss TPH
  • University of Basel
  • University of the Republic
  • Yale University
  • University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City
  • Rollins School of Public Health
  • University of São Paulo
  • National Institute of Public Health
  • College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University
  • Ltd.
  • Life & Medical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

74 Scopus citations

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 (Re) 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 Re 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 little evidence of meteorological conditions having influenced the early stages of local epidemics and conclude that population behaviour and government interventions are more important drivers of transmission.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5968
JournalNature Communications
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2021

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

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