The Myth About Heat and CoronaVirus

By Mosimileoluwa Alabi

23 March 2020

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I once heard a woman say, ?God deliberately increased the temperature from heaven so that it will kill this Corona Virus?. It took me a while to fully make her understand that though heat can be used in reducing the virulence of some viruses, in certain cases, the Coronavirus is a new virus and there has been very little study showing the effectiveness of heat in killing the virus.

Asides the heat myth, there have been several other myths about the Coronavirus that have misled people. However, in this article, we will be discussing the effect of heat on Coronavirus.

Effect of Heat on Coronavirus

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Coronavirus can be transmitted in all areas, including areas with hot and humid weather.

A team of scientists from Sun Yat-sen University in China carried out a research on the laboratory-grown copy of the coronavirus. They concluded that ?In cold environments, there is longer virus survival than warm ones?. However, this research is yet to be reviewed.

Benjamin Cowling, head of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Division at the School of Public Health, Hong Kong University said, higher temperatures are unlikely to fully stop the continued spread of the virus.

?I don?t think we can count on it stopping in the summer. It may slow down, but it won?t be stopped".

Dr. Qasim Bukhari, a computational scientist at M.I.T. said, ?Wherever the temperatures were colder, the number of the cases started increasing quickly. You see this in Europe, even though the health care there is among the world?s best.?

Do Your Part

Effect of Heat on Coronavirus

However, we shouldn?t use this as an avenue to practice complacency as the result could be disastrous.

?We still need to take strong precautions,? Dr. Bukhari said. ?Warmer temperatures may make this virus less effective, but the less effective transmission does not mean that there is no transmission.? Warmer temperatures MIGHT make it harder for the Coronavirus to survive in the air or on surfaces for long periods of time, but it could still be contagious for hours, if not days.

Even seasonal viruses like influenza and the viruses that cause the common cold don?t completely disappear during hot seasons. They are still present at low levels in many people?s bodies and in other parts of the world, biding their time until there are conditions suitable for the viruses to spread again.

It will take a little while before health officials and researchers will have a clearer picture of how the weather pattern or application of heat affects the virulence of the Coronavirus. This is why we need to follow the hygienic tips and stay safe in order to contain the virus.

As the effect of heat on Coronavirus has not been fully established, do your part in preventing the spread of Coronavirus in Nigeria.

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