Heat and COVID-19
In 2020 we undertook a large scale, multi-country survey to understand the effects of COVID-19 on heat exposure, perceptions of heat, and vulnerability for low-income urban residents in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Africa.
The survey data includes responses from 4,564 low-income urban residents across four cities in India, Pakistan, Cameroon and Indonesia, collected via mobile phone in July and August 2020.
Our analysis shows how pandemic response created different magnitudes of disruption to everyday practices and sources of vulnerability and exposure to heat. Responses to the pandemic undermined residents’ abilities to stay cool or otherwise manage heat stress in low-income areas.
Findings have been compiled in a report published in February 2022. All publications can be accessed here.
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Extreme Heat and COVID-19
The study provides substantial new data on the direct as well as indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, thermal comfort and heat-related illness, in Jakarta, Hyderabad, Karachi and Hyderabad and Douala. These cities are home to very large or rapidly growing low-income populations dealing with extreme heat. Alongside data on heat exposure and symptoms associated with heat-related illness, the report supplies supplementary data points on access to electricity, water, food, health services, as well as income and food intake during the COVID-19 pandemic, that will be of use to policy makers and researchers. The report is intended for use by governmental and non-governmental organisations in these cities and countries as they work to fine-tune policy and programme responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and avoid heat-related health impacts. Its broader findings are intended to be of use to inform interventions in urban areas facing similar challenges across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and South East Asia.
