Impact of meteorological factors and population density on COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia

Khalid J Alzahrani; Nadim Sharif; Afsana Khan; Hamsa Jameel Banjer; Anowar Khasru Parvez; Shuvra Kanti Dey

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.103545

Impact of meteorological factors and population density on COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2023 Feb;30(2):103545. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.103545. Epub 2022 Dec 23.

Authors

Khalid J Alzahrani¹, Nadim Sharif², Afsana Khan³, Hamsa Jameel Banjer¹, Anowar Khasru Parvez², Shuvra Kanti Dey²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratories Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Microbiology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Statistics, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Transmission and increase in cases and fatalities of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) are significantly influenced by the parameters of weather, human activities and population factors. However, study gap on the seasonality of COVID-19 and impact of environmental factors on the pandemic in Saudi Arabia is present. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of environment on the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed from January 2020 to July 2021. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to determine the effect of environmental variables on longitudinal outcomes. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (r_s ) was used to analyze the impact of different parameters on the outcome of the pandemic. Multiple sequence alignment was performed by using ClustalW. Vaccination and fatalities (r _s = -0.85) had the highest association followed by vaccination with cases (r _s = -0.81) and population density with the fatalities (r_s = 0.71). The growth rate had the highest correlation with sun hours (r _s = -0.63). Isolates from variant of concern alpha and beta were detected. Most of the reference sequences in Saudi Arabia were closely related with B.1.427/429 variant. Clade GH (54%) was the most prevalent followed by O (27%), GR (9%), G (6%), and S (4%), respectively. Male to female patient ratio was 1.4:1. About 95% fatality and hospitalization were reported in patients aged >60 years. This study will create a comprehensive insight of the interaction of environmental factors and the pandemic and add knowledge on seasonality of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: COVID-19; Population; Saudi Arabia; Vaccination; Variant of concern; Weather.