Egypt has been seeing unstable weather for the third day in a row, with low temperatures, freezing rain, heavy winds, dense clouds, and mist hitting various parts of Egypt.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority shared online footage showing various areas across the country showered by light to heavy rainfall and coastal areas hit by ice and snow rain.
The cold snap is caused by a tropical depression arriving from Cyprus, which is one of the major tropical depressions to hit the Mediterranean Sea. The Cyprus wave ends in March, according to meteorologists. The three-day cold wave ends on Friday.
Cold Weather and Health
Hypothermia occurs when the body temperature drops below 35˚C. This results from your body losing more heat than it can make, such as when you are exposed to cold or water. Hypothermia can show up as shivering, clumsiness, confusion, tiredness, or urinating more than usual. If not treated quickly, hypothermia can cause severe health problems, including death.
Cold weather can increase the risk of a heart attack. When you’re outside in the cold, your heart works harder to keep you warm — leading to increased heart rate and blood pressure. This can cause heart problems, especially if you have an existing heart condition.
Dry skin and mucus membranes are common in the winter. Winter air is usually quite dry, and that can suck the moisture out of the body.
When cold weather goes on and on, you may end up binge watching television for days. This kind of sedentary behaviour can increase your risk of obesity, heart disease, and other health issues.
Cold Weather and COVID-19
Cold weather makes it harder for the body to fight respiratory infections. The winter surge in COVID-19 is due to more than merely spending time indoors.
Seasons affect not only the physical structures of viruses, but also our body’s natural barriers against disease. In the winter, in particular, the cold, dry air and lack of sunlight negatively affect our ability to stave off respiratory infections like the flu or the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Cold weather forces people to move indoors where airborne transmission thrives.
lower temperatures and low humidity keep the virus stable and infectious for longer. Lower temperatures slow down chemical reactions, like the ones that cause viruses to break down. That means the coronavirus can float around in respiratory droplets unencumbered for longer.
Lower humidity evaporates droplets to a smaller size, making it easier for the virus to bump into other chemicals in the droplet and inactivate–but only up to a point. If the droplets get too small, the naturally occurring salts in the fluids we exhale crystallize and trap the virus, preserving it for awakening when the drop gets dissolved in a new host’s airway.
Health Effects of Dust Storms
Common symptoms that you may experience during a dust storm include itchy or burning eyes, throat irritation, skin irritation, coughing or sneezing, and/or respiratory or breathing difficulties, including asthma attacks.
People who may be more vulnerable than others are infants, children, adolescents, the elderly, people with respiratory conditions, people with heart disease, and people with diabetes.
For these people, exposure to airborne dust may trigger allergic reactions and asthma attacks, cause serious breathing-related problems, contribute to cardiovascular or heart disease and contribute to reduced life span.
Dust particles vary in size from coarse (non-inhalable), to fine (inhalable), to very fine (respirable). Coarse dust particles generally only reach as far as the inside of the nose, mouth, or throat. Smaller or fine particles, however, can get much deeper into the sensitive regions of the respiratory tract and lungs. These smaller dust particles have a greater potential to cause serious harm to your health.
Dust storms are also transporters of microorganisms, some of which are highly pathogenic to humans. Microorganisms are natural inhabitants of top surface soils and sands and include bacteria, fungi, fungal spores, and viruses. Dust particles cause abrasion to the nasopharyngeal mucosa in humans and thus promote microbial infections on inhalation.
Dust in closed spaces contains small amounts of plant pollen, molds, some combination of shed bits of human skin, animal fur, decomposing insects, food debris, lint and organic fibers from clothes, bedding, and other fabrics, tracked-in soil, soot, particulate matter from smoking and cooking, lead, arsenic, even DDT and many other materials which may be found in the local environment.
The majority of household dust — about 60% — comes from outside, through windows, doors, vents, and significantly on the soles of your shoes.
Dust mites are the most common cause of allergy from house dust. The more dust you have, the more dust mites you have. Dust mite particles are often found in pillows, mattresses, carpeting, and upholstered furniture. They float into the air when anyone vacuums, walks on a carpet, or disturbs bedding and they settle once the disturbance is over.
Dust Storm and COVID-19
In response to the global pandemic, people experiencing symptoms from COVID-19 are at an increased risk for experiencing exasperations from the dust storm. Viral exposure to COVID-19 and then also breathing air pollution can cause harm. When you have these two exposures together, a viral infection and spike or surge in air pollution exposure, those can be harmful.
One of the things about COVID-19 is that it increased our awareness of how to protect our lungs, and also how to reduce harm from virus and air pollution.
Things such as wearing face coverings, paying more attention to how our lungs feel, and social distancing are generally helpful to maintaining lung health and can also help reduce exposure to dust. The extent to which we can all try to reduce harm and protect our lungs will help to reduce the risk of experiencing an adverse impact of COVID-19 as well as reducing self-exposure to dust.
Tips to Be Safe During a Winter Storm
Leave the area for a cleaner environment. Stay indoors, with windows and doors closed. Avoid vigorous exercise, especially if you have a heart or lung condition.
If you have asthma, continue your medication and consult your general practitioner if required; and if it is safe to do so, check on elderly neighbours or other people who you think might need extra help.
Always maintain good personal hygiene. Wash your hands frequently to remove dirt, dust, dangerous chemicals, and microorganisms. Gargle and inhale warm steam several times daily. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth before washing or sterilizing your hands.
Wash your hair at night since allergens can be trapped in the hair. Wipe surfaces with dry wipes first then warm soapy water. Wash clothes, bed sheets, bathroom rugs, and shower curtains in hot water. Change clothes as soon as you arrive back home.
Listen to the weather forecast before going out. Develop a cold weather safety plan in advance to ensure that safety concerns are addressed when it's very cold. Dress warmly; dress in layers, with a wind resistant outer layer.
When it is cold, wear a hat, mittens, or insulated gloves. Keep your face warm with a scarf or facemask. Your body's extremities, such as the ears, nose, fingers, and toes lose heat the fastest.
Seek shelter, when the wind chill is significant, get out of the wind, and limit the time you spend outside. Stay dry as wet clothing chills the body rapidly.
Remove outer layers of clothing or open your coat if you are sweating. Keep active by walking or running. These will help warm you by generating body heat.
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