The seasonal flu usually spike up in the winter and recedes by spring and summer in temperate climates. However, people ask if it is the same with the fast spreading novel coronavirus. Some people have made assumptions that the sunshine and hot temperature could drive away the virus, which was immediately corrected by health experts saying that a respiratory virus does not behave in the same way as an influenza.
Is climate a factor in mitigating COVID-19?
Officials from the World Health Organization said that there is no reason to believe that temperature is one of the factors in the outbreak, however, this possibility is worth investigating since most strains of coronavirus die at a temperature of 23℃. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agreed with the WHO saying that it is not known if the spread of the virus will decrease as the weather gets warmer.
Also, it was noted by the CDC that even though other viruses like the common influenza A virus spread more during the cold season, it does not mean that it is impossible to get sick with it during the warm season.
Is there proof that climate is or is not a factor?
There has not been any confirmation that has been published in scholarly journals, although there are already many researchers that did analyses on the subject. US and Iranian researchers have done a study that shows that the countries where the virus has so far taken hols have the same humidity and temperatures that usually range between 5 ℃ to 11 ℃ like Wuhan china, Italy and Seattle.
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Meanwhile, in places with hotter temperatures and higher humidity, most of the cases were from brought from travel and has low cases of community spread. However, the researchers said the study and their predictions should be followed but with extreme caution.
Is COVID-19 only a seasonal scare?
Even with the alarming spike of cases around the world this week, good news sprouted hope as the outbreaks in China and South Korea, the countries with the densest cases have appeared to have been stabilizing as the number of new cases decrease. This is all thanks to the prolonged efforts and intervention measures done by health care authorities which included lockdowns, travel restrictions, and proper information dissemination of the strict sanitization protocols to be followed.
However, it is still needed to be observed that if certain countries that have lowered cases will be relaxing in the restrictions if the new cases will once again spike up or if the virus is already indeed under control.
Whilst many countries and cities are still putting out efforts to contain and control the outbreak, and are hoping that the warm weather would help their chances, there is a con is the virus appears to be seasonal because even if the number of cases declines as summer approaches, there is still a chance that it will have a resurgence in the colder months .
