Climate impact on vulnerability to COVID-19. An electrostatics-based perspective

Abstract:

The climate seems to have an important role in controlling the risk of person-to-person contamination by the COVID-19 and consequent large scale spreading. Generally, the focus is on the direct effects of temperature and humidity on the micro-sized droplet nuclei in the airborne state. On this basis, little attention is paid to the the fact that the ambient conditions can even play a pivotal role in some physical mechanisms, primarily involving the human body, which could become an effective cause of infection regardless of the potential infectivity of pathogens. A thorough investigation is being conducted regarding the increased risk of contamination which could come from the natural and inadvertent static electrification of every subject. Triboelectric charging makes the human body a source of electrostatic field potentially capable of driving nearby charge-carrying droplet nuclei. It is worth stressing that we are looking at electric fields usually achieving the order of magnitude of some kilovolts. The expected result is that a considerable amount of suspended pathogenic microorganisms can be electrostatically captured or repelled, depending on the polarity of the electric charge carried and orientation of the background electric field, thus to the detriment of the individual himself or his neighbor, respectively. The efficiency of such a dreaded electrostatic process is remarkably controlled by the climate dependent insulating conditions of the worn shoes. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of this investigation is to provide insights into infection control, by relying on measures already taken toward maintaining static-safe environments. In this respect, it should be recalled that the effects of triboelectric charging have long been studied in the field of electromagnetic compativility (EMC), with special reference to the genesis of the electrostatic discharge (ESD), this being a potential cause of malfuncion and failure of sensitive electronics. As an aside, the suspected gender-linked different vulnerability to COVID-19 is critically examined by substantial arguments deriving from the mechanism described above.