Summer.. really capable of beating COVID-19? Know the truth..

New Delhi, March 19: Since the Coronavirus is spreading all over the world and the death toll is continuing to rise, some theories have deliberately been making its rounds among the netizens. One of the famous theory, as we all know is that the warmer weather might shutdown the spread of the virus. But, is it true? Could summer help stop the coronavirus?

 

The reason that the neitzens have come up with this is probably because the coronavirus has reached a larger community as compared to that of flu. In many ways, virus and the flu—both spread in similar ways (respiratory secretions and contaminated surfaces) and both of them cause typically mild respiratory disease which can develop into life-threatening pneumonia.

 

 

However, one must consider that the transmissiblity and severity of coronavirus is much greater than the flu and it is not yet clear if coronavirus transmission will be affected by seasonal temperature variation. Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s emergencies chief rubbished off this theory by stating, “We have to assume that the virus will continue to have the capacity to spread, and it’s a false hope to say, ‘Yes, it will just disappear in the summertime like influenza".

 

On the other hand, neitzens also think that the changes in temperature, humidity, differences in human behavior and human immune system functioning play a role in this pattern, but it is very unlikely to behave like similar viruses in the short term. Dr. Dale Fisher, a senior consultant in infectious diseases at the National University of Singapore, was similarly unconvinced that hot weather would significantly slow its spread. “Maybe after it’s been around for a few years and most of the world has had it, maybe then it will settle into a more flu-like pattern,” he said.

 

“Since we have no natural immunity to this, we’re all much more vulnerable, no matter what the weather is", he added. The coronavirus was identified only in late December, and most scientists say there is simply no data to suggest that the cases will start declining in warmer weather and also it is so new that very few people are immune from it.

 

 

Nevertheless, there is also another side to this story. Dr. Mohammad Sajadi, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland thinks that weather might play a role. He and colleagues found a striking temperature similarity among regions with sustained outbreaks of coronavirus. They all have outdoor temperatures between 5 and 11 degrees Celsius (41 and 52 Fahrenheit). “If we’re right about seasonality, that could help with surveillance and other public health measures,” Sajadi said.

 

Whatever the effect of temperature is on coronavirus , but we have to take major precautions to protect ourselves. As of the latest reports, the total number of positive cases in India stands at 172 including 3 deaths and 14 people recovered. With the highest number of cases, Maharashtra stands at 47.