Impact of population density and weather on COVID-19 pandemic and SARS-CoV-2 mutation frequency in Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has caused the recent pandemic worldwide. Research studies are focused on various factors affecting the pandemic to find effective vaccine or therapeutics against COVID-19. Environmental factors are the important regulators of COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to determine the impact of weather on the COVID-19 cases, fatalities and frequency of mutations in Bangladesh. The impacts were determined on 1, 7 and 14 days of the case. The study was conducted based on Spearman's correlation coefficients. The highest correlation was found between population density and cases (rs = 0.712). Among metrological parameters, average temperature had the strongest correlation (rs = −0.675) with the cases. About 82% of Bangladeshi isolates had D614G at spike protein. Both temperature and UV index had strong effects on the frequency of mutations. Among host factors, coinfection is highly associated with frequency of different mutations. This study will give a complete picture of the effects of metrological parameters on COVID-19 cases, fatalities and mutation frequency that will help the authorities to take proper decisions.