A PATH ANALYSIS OF COVID-19 WITH THE INFLUENCE OF AIR PRESSURE, AIR TEMPERATURE, AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the most infectious diseases and one of the greatest challenge due to global health crisis. The virus has been transmitted globally and spreading so fast with high incidence. While, the virus still pandemic, the government scramble to seek antiviral treatment and vaccines to combat the diseases. This study was conducted to investigate the influence of air pressure, air temperature, and relative humidity on the number of confirmed cases in COVID-19. Based on the result, the calculation of reproduced correlation through path decompositions and subsequent comparison to the empirical correlation indicated that the path model fits the empirical data. The identified factor significantly influenced the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19. Therefore, the number of daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 may reduce as the amount of relative humidity increases; relative humidity will increase as the amount of air temperature decreases; and the amount of air temperature will decrease as the amount of air pressure decreases. Thus, it is recommended that policy-making bodies consider the result of this study when implementing programs for COVID-19 and increase public awareness on the effects of weather condition, as it is one of the factors to control the number of COVID-19 cases.