Is there a correlation between SARS-CoV-2 virus (that causes Covid-19) and geography? Well, the data till date suggests so.

The worst affected regions from Covid-19 are in the upper latitudes of the northern hemisphere (beyond 30°N latitude), which fall under the temperate zone. Interestingly, all the countries in this region, with the exception of a few, are developed countries with robust health systems and public health expenditure.

On the other side, tropical and subtropical countries (Latin America, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Northern Australia) have a low number of cases and deaths from the virus. Most of the countries in the tropical and subtropical region are either developing or underdeveloped. The public health system in these countries suffers from a lack of funding. They have very low hospital beds, isolation facilities, ICUs, ventilators, and doctor-patient ratios.

The best example is the African continent, which has the majority of its area under the tropical and subtropical zone. Many countries in Africa are politically and economically unstable. The continent is underdeveloped and has a high interaction with China. Yet it has a low number of cases and deaths.

South Asia and Latin America, which fall under the tropical and subtropical zone, are also behaving the same way. The number of infections and deaths is very low compared to upper latitude countries.

It is also true that the number of tests per million population is very low in South Asia. However, I believe South Asia and other tropical and subtropical countries do have fewer infections (or fewer fatalities) despite low testing. This is because the health system of no country in this region has been overwhelmed and there is no unprecedented spike in unexplained deaths in any of these countries. Only time will answer the reasons for this.

Nevertheless, as it is a new strain of virus, the behaviour of the virus is unknown and unpredictable. We never know how this virus could evolve in the future. But as of now, the virus has caused the least impact on tropical and subtropical countries in terms of infectivity and mortality.