The Effect of Meteorological Factors on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Northeast Turkiye.

Introduction Although various studies have been conducted on the relationship between meteorological factors and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this issue has not been sufficiently clarified. In particular, there are a limited number of studies on the course of COVID-19 in the warmer-humidity seasons. Methods Patients presenting to the emergency departments of health institutions and to clinics set aside for cases of suspected COVID-19 in the province of Rize between 1 June and 31 August 2021 and who met the case definition based on the Turkish COVID-19 epidemiological guideline were included in this retrospective study. The effect of meteorological factors on case numbers throughout the study was investigated. Results During the study period, 80,490 tests were performed on patients presenting to emergency departments and clinics dedicated to patients with suspected COVID-19. The total case number was 16,270, with a median daily number of 64 (range 43-328). The total number of deaths was 103, with a median daily figure of 1.00 (range 0.00-1.25). According to the Poisson distribution analysis, it is found that the number of cases tended to increase at temperatures between 20.8 and 27.2°C. Conclusion It is predicted that the number of COVID-19 cases will not decrease with the increase in temperature in temperate regions with high rainfall. Therefore, unlike influenza, there may not be seasonal variation in the prevalence of COVID-19. The requisite measures should be adopted in health systems and hospitals to manage increases in case numbers associated with changes in meteorological factors.

The Cardiopulmonary Effects of Medical Masks and Filtering Facepiece Respirators on Healthy Health Care Workers in the Emergency Department: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: International COVID-19 guidelines recommend that health care workers (HCWs) wear filtering facepiece (FFP) respirators to reduce exposure risk. However, there are concerns about FFP respirators causing hypercapnia via rebreathing carbon dioxide (CO2). Most previous studies measured the physiological effects of FFP respirators on treadmills or while resting, and such measurements may not reflect the physiological changes of HCWs working in the emergency department (ED). OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the physiological and clinical impacts of FFP type II (FFP2) respirators on HCWs during 2 h of their day shift in the ED. METHODS: We included emergency HCWs in this prospective cohort study. We measured end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2), mean arterial pressure (MAP), respiratory rate (RR), and heart rate values and dyspnea scores of subjects at two time points. The first measurements were carried out with medical masks while resting. Subjects then began their day shift in the ED with medical mask plus FFP2 respirator. We called subjects after 2 h for the second measurement. RESULTS: The median age of 153 healthy volunteers was 24.0 years (interquartile range 24.0-25.0 years). Subjects' MAP, RR, and ETCO2 values and dyspnea scores were significantly higher after 2 h. Median ETCO2 values increased from 36.4 to 38.8 mm Hg. None of the subjects had hypercapnia symptoms, hypoxia, or other adverse effects. CONCLUSION: We did not observe any clinical reflection of these changes in physiological values. Thus, we evaluated these changes to be clinically insignificant. We found that it is safe for healthy HCWs to wear medical masks plus FFP2 respirators during a 2-h working shift in the ED.