The government of India said on Friday that the popular belief that coronavirus doesn’t survive higher temperatures and may not spread in India during summers was unverified.
Health ministry officials said in a press briefing that the facts about virus’ behavior were still under study and there was no confirmation for the general expectation that it gets destroyed in higher temperatures.
“All facts about it are still being studied. There are no confirmatory studies. It is generally expected that the virus, if it is in higher temperatures may have difficulty in surviving, but it is not confirmed,” said Luv Aggarwal, joint secretary with the health ministry.
Ministry officials have only confirmed what some health experts had said earlier while cautioning against nurturing “false hope”.
A recent study done in China had claimed that the number of cases decreased after average temperatures crossed 8.72 degrees Celsius, leading to conclusions that the virus couldn’t withstand warmer climates.
Epidemiologists say that while rising temperature and humidity could lead to a decline in the potency, it was not guaranteed to kill it. The new virus, they say, may not respond to seasonal changes like other viruses causing flu and common cold do.
“It’s a false hope to say it will disappear like the flu (in the summer) … we can’t make that assumption. And there is no evidence,” Mike Ryan, executive director of World Health Organistaion Health Emergencies Programme, was quoted as saying recently.
The study in China, which has not been peer-reviewed yet, had said that there may be a temperature range that could be best suited for the virus growth and rapid transmission and it may struggle in warmer countries during summer. The study had analysed coronavirus cases from around the world reported between January 20 and February 4 and related it with January weather data from China and other capitals of the affected countries.
Contrasting deductions were made by a study done by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which said Covid-19 transmission took place in diverse climate conditions, including cold and dry regions to tropical locations within China.
“This is a modified virus that has started infecting humans. We don’t know how these changes will affect the survivability of the virus with changes in temperature or humidity,” said Dr Lalit Kant, former head of epidemiology at Indian Council of Medical Research.
Other experts have pointed out that Kerala, where India’s first coronavirus cases were reported along with further transmissions this week, has humid weather and the maximum temperature hovers around 32 degrees Celsius.
The health ministry panel made a similar point on Friday during the briefing.
