The Corona Virus Myths

An increasing number of countries are closing their borders and issuing lockdown directives that are helping contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The declaration of the coronavirus as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO)has increased pressure on international governments to raise efforts in containing the spread of the virus. Given theta the virus is new globally, a lot of information has been shared about the virus regarding what caused it, infection media, symptoms and preventive measures. Among the most proven information about the virus is maintaining social distance to spread its spread. It is important to maintain distance (at least a meter) from people who exhibit coughing and sneezing (Roach, 2020). Besides, people are encouraged to frequently and thoroughly wash hands with soap. These measures have been proven scientifically and practically to slow down the spread of the virus. Hand washing soap and sanitizers contain ingredients that kill the virus on contact. Maintaining distance allows people to avoid spread by minimizing contact with infected persons.

However, there is some information that is being contested because of the recent unfolding of the virus. For instance, according to the US-based forecaster AccuWeather, a pathologist in Hong Kong was quoted saying that the coronavirus is sensitive to humidity, sunlight and temperature which are believed to reduce the half-life of the virus by half (Roach, 2020). Another Virologist, Thomas Pietschmann, described the virus to be less resistant to heat hence will easily breakdown when temperatures rise. As spring approaches in the USA and Europe, there is a lot of hope that the increased temperatures may reduce the rate of infection (Regencia, 2020). While experts tend to agree on the impact of temperature, it is worth noting that countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and other countries along the tropics have reported an increasing number of infections recently. As a result, the temperature hypothesis seems to fail to give what is currently going on in lower Asia and African countries that are reporting increased new infections every day.

References

Ted Regencia. March 11, 2020. Will warmer weather slow the spread of coronavirus? Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/warmer-weather-slow-spread-coronavirus-200310050819610.html

John Roach. March 13, 2020. Higher temperatures affect survival of new coronavirus, pathologist says. Retrieved from https://www.accuweather.com/en/health-wellness/higher-temperatures-affect-survival-of-new-coronavirus-pathologist-says/700800