Coronavirus will likely become seasonal, but not yet, say scientists

[poornima lagadapati]

New Delhi, Sep 15: Once herd immunity is attained, the novel coronavirus may follow suit and become a seasonal virus in countries with temperate climates, but until that time, COVID-19 will continue to spread across the seasons, a new study says.

According to the review research, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, when a significant section of the population becomes immune to the novel coronavirus and achieves herd immunity, the effective transmission of the virus may drop substantially making it more prone to seasonal fluctuations.

"COVID-19 is here to stay and it will continue to cause outbreaks year-round until herd immunity is achieved," warned study senior author Hassan Zaraket from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.

 

[Himanshi Agarwal]

Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that controlling temperature and humidity affects the viability of coronavirus and influenza. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 was found to have longer viability at temperatures typical to air-conditioned environments (22–25°C) with relative humidity of 0–50% compared with higher temperatures (>38°C) and higher relative humidity (>95%). Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has been found to have similar stability under experimental conditions. One study found that the viability of SARS-CoV-2 decreased at higher temperatures. In this study, investigators incubated SARS-CoV-2 in virus transport medium with a final concentration of approximately 6.8 log units of 50% tissue culture infectious dose per milliliter and found only a reduction of 0.7 log units on day 14 at 4°C compared with complete inactivation of the virus at 14 days in 22°C and at 2 days in 37°C

 

[Sinatra]

Unfortunately no one knows what is going to happen next!

 

[Sinatra]

I hope that some time soon the pandemic will cease.

 

[archit26]

Hope all of this be over

 

[TomD]

Hope all of this be over

We all do

 

[jitenmazee996]

Researchers proposed that the coronavirus (COVID-19) may eventually turn into a seasonal virus; however, this theory is not conclusive, and circumstances may have changed since then. Like the flu, many respiratory viruses also show seasonal trends, and some specialists think COVID-19 could do the same.

According to the theory, the virus may become more active during particular seasons and may exhibit greater transmission in the winter. However, a number of variables, such as immunity levels, human behaviour, and the possibility of viral mutations, can affect a virus's seasonality.