Nexus between temperature and COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-analysis
Muhammad Farhan Bashir, Bilal Bilal, Asim Shahzad, Bushra Komal, Muhammad Farhan Bashir, Duojiao Tan
Abstract
Background: After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the impact of temperature became a debatable issue among researchers and policymakers. Extant research has examined the relationship between COVID-19 pandemic and temperature; however, existing research remains inconclusive so far. Hence, the current study aims to synthesize these mixed findings to confirm the relationship between temperature and the COVID-19 outbreak and determine the possible causes of the inconclusive conclusions in prior research. Methods: For this meta-analysis, we retrieved the empirical studies from Scopus and Web of Science using the keywords "temperature," "coronavirus","SARS-COV-2," and "COVID-19". Following PRISMA guidelines, we have selected 63 studies that have reported the correlation coefficient values between temperature and COVID-19 pandemic. We have applied fixed-effects meta-analysis regression for this study. Results: Our study fails to find a significant association between COVID-19 pandemic and temperature. We find that healthcare resources, COVID-19 response strategies, and climate zones play a moderating role in the relationship between COVID-19 and temperature. Conclusion and Implications: Our findings help health practitioners and policymakers in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Current research fails to establish the direct association between temperature and COVID-19; hence our results suggest that instead of relying on meteorological indicators, policymakers need to utilize health care resources better and effectively execute COVID-19 strategies.