Does environmental quality and weather induce COVID-19: Case study of Istanbul, Turkey
Khurram Shahzad, Taimoor Hassan Farooq, Buhari Doğan, Li Hu, Umer Shahzad
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 100 million people worldwide with COVID-19, with millions of deaths across the globe. In this research, we explored the effects of environmental and weather variables with daily COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 fatalities in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey has the 8th highest number of COVID-19 cases globally, with the highest infections and deaths in Istanbul. This may be the first study to conduct a comprehensive investigation for environmental quality (air quality pollutants, e.g., PM2.5 and PM10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc.), weather parameters (temperature, humidity) and COVID-19 in Turkey. The authors collected meteorological data from 11 March 2020 to 8 February 2021 and COVID-19 data from Istanbul and other regions. The results from empirical estimations, correlation analysis, and quantile on quantile techniques support that air quality and temperature significantly influence COVID-19 deaths in Istanbul. This research may help policymakers and health scientists to take specific measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus across different global cities.