Slowing a pandemic: How summer temperatures could impact coronavirus

Some officials are claiming that as the seasons change, warmer temperatures will help contain the spread of Coronavirus.

“The flu cannot really propagate in the summertime,” Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) said. “So you’re going to see the cases, hopefully, going way down in the summer.”

But does the science support that claim?

Infectious disease experts say there is no way to be sure that this will happen, since they do not yet know how this new coronavirus will behave.

But when it comes to other viruses such as the common cold or influenza, there is a weather-related reason they often thrive during the colder months, then retreat in the summer. And it is not just because people are cooped up in close proximity in the winter.

According to the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University, in warm, humid weather, viruses have a harder time spreading. The droplets that carry viruses do not stay suspended in the air as long in humid conditions, and warmer temperatures degrade the virus more rapidly.

As for whether or not this potential benefit of warmer weather may counter the otherwise rapid spread of the virus, only time will tell.

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