Impact of wind speed and air pollution on COVID-19 transmission in Pakistan

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of wind speed and air pollution on COVID-19 from March 10, 2020, to October 04, 2020, in Pakistan. Wind speed and COVID-19 had positive correlation in Pakistan and its provinces. The inverted U-shaped dose–response curve was found for wind speed and COVID-19 in Punjab. Initially, the dose–response curve showed a positive link between wind speed and COVID-19 in Pakistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad Capital Territory. Later, it becomes downward sloped in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad Capital Territory. The expected log count of COVID-19 was increased by 0.113 times (Pakistan), 0.074 times (Punjab), 0.042 times (Sindh), and 0.082 times (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) for a 1 km/h increase in the wind speed. The correlation between particulate matter and COVID-19 was positive (Pakistan, Punjab, and Islamabad Capital Territory) and negative (Sindh). The dose–response curve for particulate matter and COVID-19 had inverted U-shaped (Pakistan, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) positively sloped (Islamabad Capital Territory), and negatively sloped (Sindh). The inverted U-shaped association shows that the COVID-19 initially increased due to a rise in the particulate matter but reduced when the particulate matter was above the threshold level. The particulate matter was also responsible to wear face masks and restricted mobility. The expected log count of COVID-19 cases was reduced by 0.005 times in Sindh for 1 unit increase in particulate matter. It is recommended to reduce particulate matter to control respiratory problems. The government should use media (print, electronic, social) and educational syllabus to create awareness about precautionary measures.

A data-driven eXtreme gradient boosting machine learning model to predict COVID-19 transmission with meteorological drivers

“…According to laboratory tests, SARS-CoV-2 is very stable in cold conditions but vulnerable to rising temperatures [9]. Different previous studies also investigated that meteorological factors such as temperature [10][11][12], humidity [13,14], and wind speed [15] might affect COVID-19 transmission [16][17][18]. The transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic is reduced as temperature rises in China as well as other regions of the world [13,16,18].…”

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Quantification of Temporal Variations in Air Pollutants Before, During and Post the Lockdown in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia

“…Air quality has mostly surpassed the air quality standards recommended by WHO and local authorities (National Centre of Meteorology "NCM") (Basahi et al 2017 ; Harrison et al 2016a , b ; Ismail et al 2021 ). Recently, Ali et al ( 2021 ) stated that climatic indicators (wind speed, humidity, temperature, rainfall, and air quality) are strongly correlated with COVID-19 (Siciliano et al 2020 ; Xu et al 2020 ; Dogan et al 2020 ; Fattorini and Regoli 2020 ; Ding et al 2021 ).…”

Air Pollution and Meteorological Parameters in SARS-CoV-2 Virus Spread and Transition

“…They found a positive and negative correlation between PM2.5 and infection. In addition, the wind speed had a U-shaped curved eff ect, was proportional at fi rst, and when the wind speed was more than 4 km/h, the ratio was reversed (reduced cases) [13]. Another study looked at the concentrations of particulate matter and ozone on infections in Italy from February to August 2020.…”