COVID 19 CASES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS IN FOUR DEPARTMENTS OF CATAMARCA PROVINCE. PRELIMINARY RESULTS

ABSTRACT

Respiratory viral infections are related to environmental parameters, especially Influenza viruses. There are no studies on this subject in Argentina. The objective of the study is to investigate the relationship between the presence of COVID19 cases and environmental parameters in 4 departments of the province of Catamarca, from March 2 to June 31, 2021, to establish the importance of the environment in the spread of viral infection. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Ambato, Capital, Paclín, and Andalgalá. A total of 17,142 positive cases were taken, in a temperature range (T) between -3.1°C and 39.6°C, and relative humidity of 75%. The data treatment was carried out with the Infostat statistical software, through a linear regression for the numerical variables. The results showed that the average ambient temperature has an indirect relationship with the number of cases in Capital where the average temperature decreased from 28.3 to 5°C, increasing from 13 to 345 cases;in Ambato, the average temperature decreased from 22.2 to 0.9°C with an increase from 0 to 16 cases, in Paclín the average temperature decreased from 22.3 to 1.5°C with an increase from 0 to 9 cases, and Andalgalá, where the ambient temperature has a direct relationship with the number of cases, where the number of cases increased from 0 to 70. Relative humidity did not vary in any of the departments studied. In conclusion, preliminary results suggest that the number of COVID19 cases is related to environmental temperature but not to average humidity. Further study of environmental parameters to virosis is relevant for our region and the rest of the country.