One of the best articles I have come across lately regarding COVID-19 with a strong scientific orientation is: Why the Coronavirus Has Been So Successful. I have personally been wondering whether our upcoming warmer weather will ameliorate the effects of the pandemic as we have seen with our yearly influenza outbreaks. Here is the answer to this question extracted from this Atlantic article:
Coronaviruses, much like influenza, tend to be winter viruses. In cold and dry air, the thin layers of liquid that coat our lungs and airways become even thinner, and the beating hairs that rest in those layers struggle to evict viruses and other foreign particles. Dry air also seems to dampen some aspects of the immune response to those trapped viruses. In the heat and humidity of summer, both trends reverse, and respiratory viruses struggle to get a foothold.
Unfortunately, that might not matter for the COVID-19 pandemic. At the moment, the virus is tearing through a world of immunologically naive people, and that vulnerability is likely to swamp any seasonal variations. After all, the new virus is transmitting readily in countries like Singapore (which is in the tropics) and Australia (which is still in summer). And one recent modeling study concluded that “SARS-CoV-2 can proliferate at any time of year.” “I don’t have an immense amount of confidence that the weather is going to have the effect that people hope it will,” ...[according to an expert]. “It may knock things down a little, but there’s so much person-to-person transmission going on that it may take more than that.” Unless people can slow the spread of the virus by sticking to physical-distancing recommendations, the summer alone won’t save us.
Firstly, I now understand that one explanation for the lessening of the severity of influenza each Spring is not any change in the nature of the virus but rather improved respiratory physiology in the hosts. We experience better mucosal hygiene in warmer weather, which is to say, better cleansing of our nasal passages. Also, confirming that warmer weather may not offer any relief is that fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has extended to the tropical city-state of Singapore. This conclusion is reinforced by the opinion of an expert that "...[warmer weather] may knock things down a little, but there’s so much person-to-person transmission going on that it may take more than that." Stated another way, the virus may have little exposure to the ambient temperature because it's so often transmitted in a person-to-person fashion.
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