Regional correlations of COVID-19 in Spain
Daniel Oto‐Peralías
Abstract
This paper analyzes the correlation between confirmed cases of COVID-19 and several geographic, meteorological and socioeconomic variables at the province level in Spain. The results indicate that there is a strong and robust negative relationship between average temperature and the rate of cases of COVID-19. The explanatory power of other geographic and socioeconomic variables is much lower. A parsimonious model including population density and temperature is able to explain 67% of variation in cases of COVID. However, the results are inconclusive regarding the existence of a relationship between changes in temperature and changes in COVID cases, casting doubts on the existence of a negative link between temperature and the spread of the virus.