Weather Forecasting Techniques Can Provide Personal Assessment in Risk Exposure to COVID-19

According to new research from Caltech scientists, weather forecasting methods can be adapted to offer individuals a personalized evaluation of their risk of being exposed to COVID-19 or even other viruses.

Using Weather forecasting Technique For COVID-19 Assessment

(Photo : David Ryder/Getty Images)

According to the Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering and a senior research scientist at JPL Tapio Schneider & the Theodore Y. Wu, which Caltech manages for NASA, and the lead researcher of a study on the latest research that was published by PLOS Computational Biology on June 23, the method has the potential to be more efficient and less invasive than general lockdowns for preventing the spread of disease, as per ScienceDaily.

Although Schneider asserts that it may already be too late to stop the pandemic, this is useful in tracking other viral infections, too. It's not the last epidemic people will face.

The concept is straightforward in theory: Concerning satellite data, weather forecasting models also ingest a large amount of data, such as measurement techniques of temperature, humidity, wind speed, and direction from local weather stations.

They analyze the data to determine the atmosphere's present state, predict how the weather will change shortly, and afterward repeat the process by fusing the predicted atmospheric state with fresh data.

The same is true for disease risk analysis, which uses a variety of data types to determine an individual's likelihood of contracting a disease or becoming exposed to it, forecasts the spread of the disease among a network of social interactions to use an epidemiological model, and afterward repeats the cycle by fusing the forecast with fresh data.

Read More: Mild COVID-19 Conditions Could Affect the Brain and Body from Months After Infection 

Outbreaking Monkeypox

The International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee met on June 23, 2022, from 12:00 to 17:00 Geneva time, and the WHO Director-General has the pleasure of transmitting the minutes of that meeting (CEST), as per World Health Organization.

Regarding the multi-nation monkeypox outbreak, the WHO Director-General agrees with the recommendations made by the IHR Emergency Committee and, at this time, does not find that the situation creates a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

Across postings on the Event Information Site, the WHO Secretariat has informed the States Parties to the IHR of this event since May 11, 2022.

These postings aim to inform preparation efforts, raise public awareness of the scope of the outbreak and give access to technical advice for the prompt public health measures advised by the WHO Secretariat.

The formation of an IHR Emergency Committee indicates an increase in the level of warning system for States Parties towards the IHR and the global public health community, as well as a request for more aggressive global health responses to this event.

The WHO Director-General would like to take this opportunity to extend his sincere appreciation to the IHR Emergency Committee's Chair, Vice-Chair, Members, and Advisers.

Self-evaluation for Symptoms online

On January 25, 2020, a Toronto citizen who had visited Wuhan, China, was found to have COVID-19 for the first time in Canada, as per Scientific Reports.

 On March 11, 20202, the WHO (World Health Organization) declared the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic to be worldwide.

 With 2,792 confirmed cases by March 24, 2020, Health Canada noted that local transmission was indeed the main reason for new cases in Canada.

The creation of online techniques would enable the public to self-assess one 's health status and receive guidance about what reaction may be reasonable considering their results in one aspect of the response implemented by numerous jurisdictions around the world.

Such a tool was developed by the Ontario Health West Region in collaboration with Input Health, and the system went live in early April 2020.

Read More: China's Infected COVID-19 Cases Shoot Up to 13,000 with a New Omicron Subtype