Experts warn that summer weather won't help pandemic by itself

While summer's warm weather and opportunities to get outside can help to slow the spread of the virus, the heat and humidity won't do the job all by itself.

News 12 Staff

May 26, 2020, 11:02 PM

Updated 1,652 days ago

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We still have a lot to learn about COVID-19 and how the virus will behave, including its reaction to different types of weather. Many health professionals agree that while summer's warm weather and opportunities to get outside can help to slow the spread of the virus, the heat and humidity likely won't do the job all by itself.
The nation's leading expert in infectious diseases agrees. 

“One should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather," said Dr. Anthony Fauci in a recent interview with Good Morning America. "You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing."
And there is new research to back that up. A study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that differences in temperature and humidity had little bearing on the coronavirus’ progression.
The study looked at several countries, including the United States, and took into account almost 400,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Researchers compared the number of cases over a period of time during the spring and determined the influence of latitude, temperature, humidity, school closures, restrictions of mass gatherings and social distancing measured during the exposure period.

The results were even a bit surprising to those that conducted the study. They found little or no correlation between latitude or temperature and the growth of COVID-19, and only a weak association between humidity and reduced transmission.
This further emphasizes how imperative social distancing has been. It is widely accepted across the medical community as the only proven method in slowing the pandemic. And to keep the numbers on the way down, it's likely we will have to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.