The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is likely comodulated by temperature and by relative humidity

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Abstract

Inferring the impact of climate upon the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been confounded by variability in testing, unknown disease introduction rates, and changing weather. Here we present a data model that accounts for dynamic testing rates and variations in disease introduction rates. We apply this model to data from Colombia, whose varied and seasonless climate, central port of entry, and swift, centralized response to the COVID-19 pandemic present an opportune environment for assessing the impact of climate factors on the spread of COVID-19. We observe strong attenuation of transmission in climates with sustained daily temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and simultaneous mean relative humidity below 78%, with outbreaks occurring at high humidity even where the temperature is high. We hypothesize that temperature and relative humidity comodulate the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 within respiratory droplets.

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  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.05.23.20111278: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    NIH rigor criteria are not applicable to paper type.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.


    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

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