MUMBAI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- As monsoon clouds gather over Mumbai, a study by a city-based academic institution has found that humid weather during rainy season is likely to promote COVID-19 pandemic compared to hot and dry weather.
According to the study, droplets of an infected person after he or she coughs or sneezes dry quickly in hot and dry areas but it may not be so during the wet season. While several research institutions have denied any co-relation between the spread of virus and the temperature, the study by two professors of Mumbai-based Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) claims otherwise.
The drying time of droplets on any surface holds key, as virus will die with the heat, but with a humid monsoon on the anvil, the risk of pandemic at large increases, according to one of the co-authors of the study.
The study, collaborated by Professor Amit Agarwal and Professor Rajneesh Bharadwaj between March 1 and April 10, used the data related to the rise in cases, temperature and humidity in six cities of New York, Chicago, Miami, Singapore, Sydney and Los Angeles.
Mumbai-based IIT is ranked 172nd among the top 200 global universities with ahead of all institutions in the country, according to the recent QS World University Rankings.
The narrow peninsula city of Mumbai, which is the worst Indian city with close to 57,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, is witnessing the monsoon season after a hot summer season for the past three months.
Apart from COVID-19 concerns, the city's civic authority had already issued its customary advisory about rain-related diseases. Enditem
