Will warmer weather stop the spread of the coronavirus?
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DW takes an in-depth look at speculation that possibly with warmer weather coronavirus get weaker.
Spring may be the season of hope, but it’s still too early to say accurately whether SARS-CoV-2 behaves as the influenza virus. Virologist Thomas Pietschmann says, experts can’t yet predict the trajectory of the virus because “honestly speaking, we do not know the virus yet.”
Pietschmann is a molecular virologist at the Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, called Twincore, in Hanover, Germany. He researches so-called RNA viruses, including for example the hepatitis C virus. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to this group.
The external conditions in the northern hemisphere are currently virtually perfect for the rapid spread of the virus. For one thing, there’s the temperature. Respiratory viruses, i.e. those that spread via the respiratory tract, have a particularly easy time when the weather is cool. “Viruses have greater stability at low temperatures. This is similar to food that keeps longest in the refrigerator,” says Pietschmann.
The warmer it gets, the more difficult the conditions are for many viruses. “The coronavirus is surrounded by a lipid layer, in other words, a layer of fat,” Pietschmann explains. This layer is not very heat-resistant, which means that the virus quickly breaks down when temperatures rise. “Other viruses, such as the norovirus, are more stable because they consist mainly of proteins and genetic material.”
Air humidity also influences the transmissibility of respiratory viruses. Once the pathogens have been expelled from the respiratory tract with a strong sneeze, they literally hang in the air. “On cold and usually dry winter days, the small droplets, together with the viruses, float in the air longer than when the air humidity is high,” Pietschmann elaborates.
