Will summer really slow down the spread of Covid-19? Original conjectures are considered outdated - there is supposedly a more decisive factor.
- How that affects climate , the spread of Corona * - 2,020 weakens the summer from the virus?
- According to a study, the expected heat wave should not be sufficient for a decrease in Sars-CoV-2 .
- Instead, US scientists have identified another factor that is critical to containment .
When the coronavirus pandemic came into public focus at the beginning of 2020 , virologists and other scientists were taken with the theory that the risk of spreading through summer temperatures is slowed down. Because with other types of viruses - including those of the Corona genus - this property was found.
Alexander Kekulé , who became famous through Covid-19 * , said in March: "Summer could be our best ally." He described that corona viruses usually weaken when it gets warm. Colleague Christian Drosten also indicated that stronger UV light and drought such as drought could put an end to the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus .
Corona: Does summer affect infections? US study names important factor
If this corona thesis is true, why is a country like Brazil, where it was already very hot in 2020, a "hotspot" of the corona pandemic? A study by US scientists has now concluded that the climate factor has less of an impact on the course of corona.
According to a research group by environmental scientist Rachel Baker from Princeton University (USA), it is rather the vulnerability of the population that is responsible for the increase and decrease in infections . In the study, the novel coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 * was compared with the data from four other corona viruses - and integrated into a climate-related model of a computer simulation.
Experts expect a new record summer in 2020 - do high temperatures reduce the risk of coronavirus?
© dpa / Carlos Castro
The system calculated the spread in different cities with different climatic conditions. What did the scientists find out? That a striking outbreak rate was shown even in tropical regions. Rachel Baker, author of the study, concludes: "It seems that the climate is not currently regulating distribution."
Summer heat a defining factor of Corona? Immunity supposedly more important
If the climate is a less critical factor for the course of Corona , what is the more significant factor in the development? According to researchers from Princeton University in the United States, the more important factor is a lack of immunity to the corona virus - and thus a high susceptibility of people to become infected with the virus *.
In the later course, however, the climate would be decisive for containing the danger - if large parts of the population were already infected with Sars-CoV-2 and have antibodies. This also applies in the event of a possible vaccination. The team predicts that Covid-19 will become a seasonal disease - an announcement that the well-known virologist Hendrik Streeck has been making for some time.
Corona danger: heat wave pushes immune system to the limits
Incidentally, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the corona pandemic will increase health risks in the heat wave expected for summer 2020 - for people with a weak immune system. Spokeswoman Clare Nullis Kapp announces that the Sars-CoV-2 virus exacerbates heat-related health risks. The WMO is expecting “another record-breaking heat season in the northern hemisphere”. Climate change on earth "exposes human health and the health system to growing stress". And thus also patients who are more susceptible to viruses anyway.
Virologist Christian Drosten is relieved that Corona has so far been relatively light in Germany. But he expresses a fear that frightens him.
PF with AFP
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