As coronavirus becomes pandemic, scientists ask if lines on the map hold the key to contagion’s spread

Studies suggest that ‘hotspots’ for virus that causes Covid-19 are found between the 30 to 50 degree lines of latitude north

Temperature and humidity data might allow scientists to forecast the ‘next’ Wuhan

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Anti coronavirus measures in the historic Marciana area of Venice as all of Italy is completely locked down and scientists look for patterns in areas of high infection. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:00am, 13 Mar 2020Updated: 6:00am, 13 Mar 2020

The coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 125,000 people around the world is concentrated in a “corridor” across the northern hemisphere, researchers said, as more studies focused on how temperature and humidity could be used to predict the spread of the contagion.

Despite worries that Southeast Asia may become a coronavirus hotspot after central China (where the Covid-19 outbreak started) because of their proximity and travel connections to the infection’s epicentre, more countries and regions like South Korea, Japan, Iran, northern Italy and the northwestern United States may have to bear the heaviest burden.

“The establishment of community transmission has occurred in a consistent east-and-west pattern. The new [regional] epicentres of the virus were all roughly along the 30-50 degree [lines of latitude] north zone,” according to a team of US and Iranian researchers.

Their work, made public this week on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and pending review by peer experts, said that common temperature and humidity factors in these locations may allow epidemiologists to anticipate where virus cases may become focused.

The study was part of wider efforts by scientists to understand which traits the new coronavirus shared with other human coronaviruses and flu viruses, which display strong winter seasonality.

As coronavirus becomes pandemic, scientists ask if lines on the map hold the key to contagion’s spread

Studies suggest that ‘hotspots’ for virus that causes Covid-19 are found between the 30 to 50 degree lines of latitude north Temperature and humidity data might allow scientists to forecast the ‘next’ Wuhan

Studies suggest that ‘hotspots’ for virus that causes Covid-19 are found between the 30 to 50 degree lines of latitude north

Temperature and humidity data might allow scientists to forecast the ‘next’ Wuhan