The American experts warned the White house that the warm weather will not stop the spread of the coronavirus
U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Jovi Prevot / DVIDS
To understand the uneven distribution of the novel coronavirus in various regions of the planet, scientists are looking for the relationship of the pandemic with the weather conditions
U. S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Wil Acosta / DVIDS
To understand the uneven distribution of the novel coronavirus in various regions of the planet, scientists are looking for the relationship of the pandemic with the weather conditions. One of the studies in this field was the work of scientists Qasim Bukhari and Yusuf Jameel from the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT), which allowed to hope that the warm weather can reduce the rate of the epidemic. They found that 90% of cases of infection with the novel coronavirus occurred at temperatures from 3 to 17°C and an absolute humidity of 4 to 9 g/m3. To comment on this hypothesis the national Academy of Sciences (NAS) has asked its experts.
The standing Committee on emerging infectious diseases and health threats of the 21st century, the NAS produced a report, which was sent to the White house. It notes that the findings on the influence of air temperature and humidity on the spread of the novel coronavirus are not final, more information on this topic will be in the near future. The experts found shortcomings in the study and doubt the quality of the source data, which were obtained in a limited period of time, reports The Washington Post.
“There is some evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted less effectively in environments with higher temperature and humidity. However, given the lack of immunity in people all over the world, this reduction in transmission efficiency may not lead to a significant reduction in the spread of the disease without restrictive measures such as social distancing,” – said in the report.
Scientists pay attention to what other emerging coronaviruses SARS and MERS did not demonstrate any evidence of seasonality. You also need to consider other factors that can explain the nature of the spread of the virus, including geography, health system, income per capita and accessibility testing of the disease.
The report of the experts of the NAS serves as a warning to the American government that the authorities didn’t count on summer break and preparing for the second wave of the epidemic, a new coronavirus when the first wave ends.
According to the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) on April 9, 2020, in the United States identified 432438 cases of infection with coronavirus infection has died 14808 people. But the number of cases could be much higher. According to scientists from the German University of Goettingen, at the end of March it could exceed 10 million.
Another major challenge for US will be the hurricane season, which officially begins June 1. With the epidemic of the coronavirus, it can turn into a nightmare, said Earther.
The University of Colorado has published a forecast for the hurricane season 2020 in the Atlantic. According to scientists, the number of tropical cyclones will be above the average for the period 1981-2010 years (12 storms, including 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes). This year is expected to 16 storms, including 8 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes (category 3 and above). The probability that a major hurricane will strike the USA is 69%, according to Stormnews.
It is expected that hospitalization due to coronavirus infection in summer will continue in States that might be affected by tropical cyclones. These include, for example, include Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina. Hurricanes pose a serious threat, but in terms of the epidemic, there are other serious problems.
In case of a threat from dangerous areas it is necessary to carry out the evacuation of the population in terms of social distancing and the fact that people will need to place under one roof. Will require evacuation and hospital infected with the coronavirus.
Many residents informed during tropical cyclones themselves left in safe places and housed in hotels. This is currently impossible due to the closure of hotels and even if they will open, due to the deteriorating financial situation few will be able to stay there.
Also, there are fears that because of the threat of infection in the way some residents decided to wait out the disaster at home. Their aid must come to the rescue, which increases the risk of getting sick. However, many volunteers because of the epidemic will not participate in the rescue work.
After hurricane should be carried out remediation. In this case, you need a team of workers, which can also cause problems due to the fact that they must provide a safe environment. Affected by the disaster areas can occur, and many other circumstances that will make the situation extremely difficult.
It is also noted that the tropical cyclones in the Atlantic may suffer and other countries in North and Central America, the Caribbean and Northern South America. In addition, for some countries, especially for Mexico, there is a threat of storms in the Eastern Pacific, the season will start in mid-may. A similar problem will soon create typhoons with Asian countries and Islands in the Northern half of the Pacific ocean.