Warm Weather May Have Helped Suppress Coronavirus
Warm Weather May Have Helped Suppress Coronavirus
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Cooler weather aids the spread of most respiratory viruses, but it is not known if this applies to the new coronavirus.
Recent leaked comments attributed to Professor John Nicholls from the University of Hong Kong’s Department of
Pathology suggest he believes weather conditions will be a key factor in the demise of the coronavirus.
Speaking during a conference call organised by Hong Kong-based brokerage rm CLSA, Professor Nicholls referenced the
2002–03 SARS outbreak and said environmental conditions – such as temperature, humidity and sunlight – are a ‘crucial
factor’ in a virus’ ability to survive and infect people.
‘Sunlight will cut the virus’ ability to grow in half, so the half-life will be two-and-a-half minutes and in the dark it’s
about 13–20 minutes. Sunlight is really good at killing viruses,’ he said.
‘That’s why I believe that Australia and the southern hemisphere will not see any great infection rates because they have
lots of sunlight and they are in the middle of summer. And Wuhan and Beijing are still cold, which is why there’s high
infection rates.
‘In regards to temperature, the virus can remain intact at 4⁰C or 10⁰C for a longer period of time. But at 30⁰C degrees then
you get inactivation. And high humidity, the virus doesn’t like it either.’
But while Australia’s warmer weather has theoretically helped protect the population from a wider outbreak to this point,
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09/04/2020 RACGP - Warm weather may have helped suppress coronavirus
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09/04/2020 RACGP - Warm weather may have helped suppress coronavirus
While I understand the need to get opposing points of views as a journalist - some of the opinions sought are just plain irresponsible at
best, outright dangerous at worst. For example: “ thinks the containment of coronavirus...in Australia has so far been a result of good
quarantine practices and not necessarily related to current weather patterns.” My follow up question to this assertion is: what quarantine
practices have been put in place in Australia? And what makes these practices so effective? Australia has implemented self quarantine! Is
this what she means by “good quarantine practices”? Self quarantine still means there is exposure to the general population. Whether the
person is honest or not who can tell? It is only dumb luck Coronavirus is not more widespread. If weather contributes to that I would be
happy to accept that and hope there’s no further cases coming into the country.
The scienti c method consists of observation, supposition & experimentation. The above is supposition not proof.
When inconsistencies such as low secondary spread outside China occur there are lots of suggested - as there should be. I have heard some
incredible suggestions but I await good evidence
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