The novel coronavirus does not appear to grow and disappear with the passing of the seasons, experts at the World Health Organization said Monday.
“In the absence of control measures, viruses can show quite a few patterns. We’ve certainly seen that with flu. This virus has so far shown no seasonal pattern, ”said Mike Ryan, leader of the WHO’s emergency program. “What it has clearly shown is, you take the pressure off of the virus, the virus jumps back.”
Some had hoped that heat and humidity would inhibit the transmission of the coronavirus. From the first days of the outbreak during the winter months, President Trump
Donald John TrumpTrump suggests some states ‘can pay nothing’ as part of Trump’s unemployment plan denies White House asked about adding him to Mount Rushmore Trump, US face pivotal UN vote on Iran MAY claimed that the pandemic would end in warmer weather.
But studies – and the ebb and flow of the virus in the United States itself – have shown that this is not the case.
Coronavirus cases have skyrocketed in the summer months in cities like Houston, Austin, Dallas and Phoenix, even when the mercury saw in the triple digits. The two countries most affected by the virus outside of North America – Brazil and India – are both hot weather climates. In Russia, where the climate is much cooler, more than 890,000 people have tested positive for the virus.
“This virus is extremely difficult to stop,” Ryan said.
In comments to reporters on Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were at least some reasons for optimism. He pointed to New Zealand, a nation that went 100 days without communications; Rwanda, where testing is provided free of charge to everyone; and peoples along the Mekong River and island states in the Caribbean and Pacific where viral transmission has been low.
“There are green sounds of hope, and no matter where a country, a region, a city or a city is, it’s never too late to reverse the outbreak,” Tedros said.
In the United States, still the nation most affected by the world, the number of new cases reported every day is falling, in some of the episodes of the outbreak. Weekly case counts have been conducted two straight weeks in 22 states and the District of Columbia.
But cases are still growing in 12 states, from small Hawaii and Vermont to Virginia, Illinois and Indiana.
Even some of the states that have seen decay report substantially high numbers of cases. Texas reported more than 55,000 new cases last week. California and Florida both reported more than 45,000 new cases, figures that exceed the actual number potentially. California officials discovered two computer errors that could have delayed test results while Florida blocked test websites when Hurricane Isaias hit the state.
Georgia reports 22,000 new cases, and Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina and Tennessee all amount to 10,000.
WHO officials said the pandemic will continue for months, but emerging science shows that only a small fraction of those who contract the virus are responsible for most of the spread. Maria Van Kerkhove, the American who leads the technical team investigating the virus, said between 10 and 20 percent of the cases are responsible for up to 80 percent of the transmission.
“We know that if the virus has a chance to spread, it will,” Van Kerkhove said. “We know that the majority of the population remains susceptible to infection.”
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