Long-term statistical assessment of meteorological indicators and COVID-19 outbreak in hot and arid climate, Bahrain

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the global lifestyle, and the spreading of the virus is unprecedented. This study is aimed at assessing the association between the meteorological indicators such as air temperature (°C), relative humidity (%), wind speed (w/s), solar radiation, and PM 2.5 with the COVID-19 infected cases in the hot, arid climate of Bahrain. Kendall and Spearman rank correlation coefficients and quantile on quantile regression were used as main econometric analysis to determine the degree of the relationship between related variables. The dataset analysis was performed from 05 April 2020, to 10 January 2021. The empirical findings indicate that the air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed indicators, and PM2.5 have a significant association with the COVID-19 newly infected cases. The current study findings allow us to suggest that Bahrain’s relatively successful response to neighboring GULF economies can be attributed to the successful environmental reforms and significant upgrades to the health care facilities. We further report that a long-term empirical analysis between meteorological factors and respiratory illness threats will provide useful policy measures against future outbreaks.

Effect of Green Space Environment on Air Pollutants PM2.5, PM10, CO, O3, and Incidence and Mortality of SARS-CoV-2 in Highly Green and Less-Green Countries

“…Coccia, 2021 [ 27 ] conducted a study in Italy, found that about 75% of individuals infected and 81% of deaths during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic were in industrial areas with high air pollution. Furthermore, Qaid et al, 2021 [ 28 ] reported that PM2.5 has a relationship with the COVID-19 infected cases. Similarly, Bashir et al, 2020 [ 29 ] established a relationship and found that “PM10, PM2.5, SO 2 , NO 2 , and CO were linked with the COVID-19 epidemic in California”.…”

An outlook on the development of renewable energy, policy measures to reshape the current energy mix, and how to achieve sustainable economic growth in the post COVID-19 era

“…As of March 21, 2022, there were 469,713,452 confirmed cases, including 6,074,560 fatalities (WHO 2021 ). In addition to massive loss of life, the global economy is estimated to shrink by 6%, and at least 300 million people became unemployed (Qaid et al 2022 ; Bashir et al 2020c ).…”

The impact of health status on attitudes toward COVID‐19 vaccination

“…While human‐to‐human transmission has received enormous attention, 13 studies have identified other conditions which contribute to the spread of COVID‐19 in some countries 13–15 . For example, in Bahrain, 16 Brazil, 17 China, 18 Germany, 19 and the United States, 20–23 climate conditions and environmental pollution have emerged as conditions which may facilitate the spread of the disease. For example, temperature, air quality, humidity, and wind speed correlate with an increase in COVID‐19 infections; specifically, an exponential increase in the number of cases as temperatures decrease or humidity increases.…”