Coronavirus Quickly Dies Under High Temperature, Humidity, And Sunlight, White House Reveals

The White House revealed in a press briefing Thursday that the coronavirus may quickly die under high temperature, humidity, and sunlight.

Bill Bryan, the science and technology head of the Department of Homeland Security, cited a department study that showed these conditions might stop the spread of the condition as the summer months roll in.

The DHS director also showed a chart that indicated how the novel coronavirus apparently dies on hot surfaces within two minutes and within a minute and a half if the summer air is hot.

"Our most striking observation to date is the powerful effect solar light appears to have on killing the virus on both surfaces and in the air," Bryan said. "Coronavirus dies at a much more rapid pace when exposed to sunlight and humidity. The virus dies the quickest in direct sunlight. Isopropyl alcohol will kill the virus in 30 seconds."

Scientists initially speculated that COVID-19 couldn't survive warm weather, but the data on this remains mixed and inconclusive as experts are still learning new details about the novel coronavirus.

"Coronavirus still happens in the very warm climates," Dr. David Chansolme, the director of Infection Prevention at Integris Health, said. "India is a very hot country and they have a lot of disease there. Africa, sub-Sahara Africa still has a fair amount of disease so just because it’s a warmer climate, doesn’t necessarily mean that coronavirus isn’t still capable of causing human disease."

Reporters at the press conference further questioned Bryan about the findings by citing New Orleans, with its warm and humid climate. As of April 23, Louisiana has 25,739 cases and 1,540 deaths. The state has one of the most alarming outbreaks in the U.S.

However, Trump jumped in and said that people are going to go out of their house this summer and enjoy the sun.

"If it has an impact, that's great," the president said.

In the same press briefing, Trump asked Dr. Deborah Birx, who is in the White House Coronavirus Task Force, to speak to medical doctors about finding a way to use light and heat as a cure.

"I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?" Trump asked Birx. The expert, however, told the president that there is still no scientific evidence to prove that heat could work against the virus.