Initial findings from a government lab says that exposure of the coronavirus to sunlight destroys it quickly. Said experiment was conducted on controlled lab condition. This may point to hot temperatures as a weakness to exploit and mitigate virus spread.
Another tidbit is that any surface exposed to daylight will have an incidence of fewer transmissions. The presumption is that the coronavirus is vulnerable to high heat and extreme humidity. This is what the Yahoo News outlet has gotten hold off, and is a promising find in combatting the coronavirus.
The significance of this research is that direct exposure to the right temperature will burn it off any surface. According to the study, "transmission from surfaces outdoors is lower during daylight" and when the area is hot with higher humidity conditions. The researchers conclude that sunlight can kill the virus.
Summertime and similar hotter climates will likely reduce the incidence of COVID-19, especially exposed areas to sunlight or anywhere with excess heat.
This report indicates that getting involved in outdoor activities is good, but with stay home orders given in every state, this appears impossible unless you have your own yard.
The Department of Homeland Security said,"that enclosed areas with low humidity, such as airplane cabins, may require additional care to minimize the risk of transmission."
However, DHS also said that any conclusions need more data to back it up, but took a conservative stand to the news.
Findings of the DHS lab
However, the DHS Lab says that "outdoor daytime environments are lower risk for transmission."
Another lab finds that simulated sunlight for 60 minutes will rapidly kill the virus in aerosols without the need to expose the viral particules in real sunlight.
Conclusions were gleaned from viral bits suspended in saliva. Conditions were painstaking reproduced in the lab in several weather conditions.
According to Harvey Fineberg, who heads several committees related to health, he said nothing is made public yet and will present the study in an April 7 letter to the president.
While the lab results are new, scientists have predicted, based on available data on the disease's spread, that warmer, wetter climates would be less hospitable to the spread of the coronavirus. An early analysis by scientists observed that the virus was spreading more slowly in countries with warmer climates.
What other scientists think
Qasim Bukhari, a computational scientist at MIT and a co-author of the analysis said that they are not trying to imply that the virus will go away and that everything will be fine when it is hot.
He said,"The real question now, is whether enough people have already been infected that the summer temperatures won't prevent continued transmission."
According to Arthur Anderson,"[Ultraviolet] light breaks DNA into fragments. If the virus is floating around in the air and there's bright sunlight, the UV component in sunlight will break the DNA or the RNA into pieces."
Dr. Anthony Fauci mentioned that weather may have an effect on the virus, but conservatively answered the question.
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