Association between temperature and humidity with covid-19 daily positive cases in ujjain, India

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted extensive research into the factors influencing its transmission, with climatic variables such as temperature and humidity being of particular interest. Aims: This study aims to explore the relationship between mean temperature, humidity, and daily COVID-19 positive cases in central India. Methods and Material: A total of 24,355 confirmed cases were analyzed from March 23, 2020, to February 28, 2022. Spearman's rank correlation test and multiple linear regression were used to examine the relationship between daily COVID-19 positive, recovered, and death cases with average daily temperature (°C) and average daily humidity (%). Results: The study revealed that for every unit increase in mean humidity, there was a 1.63-unit decrease in daily positive COVID-19 cases, holding all other variables constant (p<0.001). A similar pattern was observed with daily recovered cases, where a unit increase in mean humidity resulted in a 1.42-unit decrease in recovered cases (p<0.001). There was no correlation between mean temperature and daily positive cases. However, a unit increase in average temperature was associated with a 0.02-unit increase in daily death cases (p<0.001). Additionally, each unit increase in average humidity was linked to a 0.01-unit decrease in daily death cases (p<0.001). Conclusions: The study shows that increased mean humidity is linked to decreases in positive COVID-19 cases and death rates, suggesting its role in reducing viral transmission. While mean temperature showed no correlation with positive cases, it was unexpectedly associated with a slight increase in daily death cases. These findings emphasize the need to consider climatic factors in public health strategies for managing COVID-19