How Weather Affects the Spread of COVID-19

Experts from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal, Spain) have discovered characteristics of the seasonality of the coronavirus. According to the journal Nature Computational Science, using digital modeling methods, scientists examined the link between climate and COVID-19 infection rates in different parts of the planet. It was found that the highest transmission rates of the virus are associated with lower temperatures and humidity. As these factors rise, the waves of the pandemic weaken.

Interestingly, this pattern was characteristic of the first and third waves, while it was disrupted during the second wave, which occurred in the summer. Scientists attribute this to the influence of other factors, such as the tourist season, which promotes the spread of infections. However, researchers are convinced that COVID-19 has seasonal characteristics similar to those of infections like the flu.

The study also confirmed that the coronavirus primarily spreads through the air, and seasonality plays a role here as well; under low humidity, the size of aerosol particles decreases, allowing the virus to spread more rapidly.