Scientist: The spread of the coronavirus will intensify in the winter – Diseases

The spread of the new coronavirus will become more active in winter conditions, which is typical of all viral respiratory infections, TASS reported, cited by BTA.

“If in the summer ultraviolet rays and heat kill the virus, in the winter it stays alive on surfaces for a long time. Therefore, all respiratory viruses cause epidemics in the winter and unfortunately this is common,” he told the agency. Sergey Netesov, Head of the Laboratory of Bionanotechnology, Microbiology and Virology at Novosibirsk State University.

He added that all the viruses in the world, including the new coronavirus, are stored in laboratories at a temperature of minus 20 to minus 70 degrees Celsius. “In domestic conditions on many surfaces such as bars, locks and others, the virus lives longer in cold conditions. It will live longer in aerosols,” said the scientist.

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When people pick up items used by others in the winter, many more virus particles are transmitted through their hands than in the summer or fall, he explained.

“And in the exhaled air of infected people there are aerosols containing microdroplets of the virus. In cold climates, the virus in this aerosol is inactivated much more slowly than in summer and spreads much greater distances. Therefore, masks are useful on the street, if a person moves there among other people who may be infected, “he said.