WHO: The Coronavirus Will Not Disappear In Summer Like The Flu

The outbreak of COVID-19 which began in Wuhan, China has sickened more than 110,000 individuals and has killed over 3800 people worldwide. While people from several parts of the world believe that the coronavirus might disappear in the summer, the experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) has clarified that the novel coronavirus will not go away in the summer and has urged people to fight COVID-19 at the current stage.

“We do not know yet what the activity or behavior of the virus will be in different climatic conditions," Straits Times quoted Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program who warns against the assumption that the virus would just disappear on its own in the summer similar to influenza. "We have to assume the virus will continue to have the capacity to spread," he said. Moreover, Dr. Ryan has highlighted the fact that COVID-19 can emerge anywhere and urges everyone to stop the blaming culture and instead do all the necessary things to save lives.

Earlier, several U.S health officials had presumed that the outbreak ‘could potentially be seasonal‘ and relent in warmer conditions. Per the researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong province, the coronavirus spread faster in areas with a temperature of 8.72 degrees Celcius, South China Morning Post mentioned. Health experts also pointed out that viral respiratory illnesses including influenza are seasonal and therefore in many such diseases, we do see a decrease in the summer and spring seasons.

But, a recent study conducted by a group of experts at the Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health has reported that sustained transmission of COVID-19 was possible in several ranges of humidity conditions from cold and dry provinces in china to tropical locations in the far south and Singapore. The study highlighted the fact that temperature might have played a vital role in why the virus broke out in Wuhan, Central China.

Other experts opined that it was possible that warmer and more humid weather would make the virus less stable and less transmissible. But, there is no evidence yet since they are still learning about this virus.

“This is a unique virus, with unique features. This virus is not influenza,” CNBC quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We are in uncharted territory,” he added.