Corona Virus-Temperature and Humidity Dependency

[HerewardtheWake]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/sunlight-destroys-coronavirus-very-quickly-new-government-tests-find-but-experts-say-pandemic-could-still-last-through-summer-200745675.html

 

It seems like there may be some  hope that the Thailand environmental conditions reduce viral infections? 

[brokenbone]

i think the hypothesis of high energy light destroying the virus is plausible,

i think humidity & temperature is irrelevant

[stephenterry]

Yes, it's the Vit D3 absorbed through the skin by sunlight that fortifies the immune system. It's advisable to expose one's skin to at least 15-20 minutes of daily sunshine, which is enough to keep the body levels high.

 

Also, for those who suffer a Vit D3  deficiency - take a Vit D3 supplement together with Vit K2 which -

Deposits calcium on bones and prevents calcium loss from bones.

Helps prevent artery calcification and reduces the risk of heart disease.

Improves cardiac function and output. Cardiac output, or resting heart rate.

Reduces the risk of developing diabetes and improves insulin sensitivity.

[Moonlover]

I've been convinced for months that this is so. I'm sure that we're all aware that colds and flu are less prominent during the summer months. Why should this coronavirus be any different?

 

Factor in the infection rates for countries within the tropical belt, even allowing for suspicious anomalies, the evidence is quite clear.

 

Warmer countries are safer countries. Right, I'm off for my walk in the sunshine. ????

 

 

[Peterw42]

A rise in temp often means a change of lifestyle, in winter people meet/congregate indoors in close quarters, dinning, sports, shopping etc. In summer people may tend to be outside more and separated more, beach swimming, golf, outdoor dinning, outdoor markets etc. The difference between an indoor party or an outdoor bbq, swimming etc, 

If temperature is a major factor, it will be negated inside a shopping mall or office block that is heated or cooled to the same temp all year round.

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Peterw42

[dimitriv]

7 hours ago, brokenbone said:

i think humidity ... is irrelevant

 

Water drops with virus will be absorbed by the air at low humidity and spread the virus. At high humidity, the drops will fall to the ground and not be absorbed. This is simply physics. 

 

[brokenbone]

32 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

 

Water drops with virus will be absorbed by the air at low humidity and spread the virus. At high humidity, the drops will fall to the ground and not be absorbed. This is simply physics. 

 

a hypothesis with little to no correlation to show for it,

worth some more studies but its not a contender to destroy the epidemic

[TheDark]

8 hours ago, brokenbone said:

i think the hypothesis of high energy light destroying the virus is plausible,

i think humidity & temperature is irrelevant

This one!

 

UV-light kills viruses. UV-A and UV-B less than more high energy UV-C which the Sun produces. 

 

Unfortunately and fortunately for us, Ozone layer absorbs most UV-C light. While it would kill the flying viruses quite fast, it also causes most of the skin damage. Do people still remember how the ozone hole over the Antarctica caused problems for beachgoers in Australia few decades ago? We needed a global effort to fix that and it worked.

 

Further reading about UV-light. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200327-can-you-kill-coronavirus-with-uv-light

[stephenterry]

44 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

a hypothesis with little to no correlation to show for it,

worth some more studies but its not a contender to destroy the epidemic

Probably quite correct, and it's not temperature or humidity that destroys the virus but the absorption of Vit D3 into the immune system from the sunlight. IMO, that's the critical factor. 

 

Also, we have other natural defences against the virus - even soap - namely Vitamin C (large intravenous doses) and Iodine (fortifies the immune system) - and particularly Zinc which could be combined with HIV drugs and/or the Anti-parasitic head lice drug Ivermectin, which has been found to kill the virus in a controlled lab within 48 hours.   

 

But no, the pharma industry, backed by world governments, will reject and ridicule these current remedies in pursuit of the holy grail of a costly multi-billion new vaccine - which will be funded by the taxpayer in the long run.

 

It's all about making money in today's world. 

[Estrada]

Those magic wand UV lights take 20 to 30 minutes to destroy the Corona Virons not seconds as the makers seem to indicate. Higher temperature and the right humidity also breaks the Corona Virons apart. The outside humidity in Thailand is an average of 80% and temperature 35C during the day. However, the lower temperatures and controlled humidity inside shopping malls, hotels and large offices with centralised air conditioning systems, can lead to high rates of transmission. One major reasons that they have shut down the shopping malls.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Estrada

[HHTel]

Quote

 French researchers lead by Professor Remi Charrel from the Aix-Marseille University in southern France  has discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is able to withstand high temperatures even when heated to as high as 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit) for an hour, as it was found the that the new coronavirus was still able to replicate.

https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-research-study-shows-that-sars-cov-2-coronavirus-can-survive-exposure-to-high-temperatures

 

People comparing covid-19 with the 'flu should be aware that the 'flu is not a corona virus.  The common cold is.

[evadgib]

I have believed from the onset that the virus in UK will be 'gone with the Bluebells'.

 

[zhounan]

We knows, Latin America is also quite warm, but there are many cases there. The fact is nobody knows. 

[natway09]

And still the jury is out.

Indonesia sort stuffs up the theory & Singapore in a relapse

[Stevemercer]

No doubt the current pandemic will produce enough data and information to support 1000 PhDs.

 

One study I think would be interesting would be to test whether there are cultural/societal factors affecting viral transmission and fatality rates. For example, do certain cultural characteristics of a society make it more or less at risk of a pandemic. 

 

Or do environmental, or other, factors swamp any cultural/societal distinctions such that it does not matter?

[johng]

6 minutes ago, Stevemercer said:

For example, do certain cultural characteristics of a society make it more or less at risk of a pandemic. 

Handshaking and cheek kissing might need looking at...I saw on France 24 the other day French president giving a low "wai" instead of handshake when meeting medical workers at a hospital.

[Sametboy2019]

18 minutes ago, natway09 said:

And still the jury is out.

Indonesia sort stuffs up the theory & Singapore in a relapse

Wasn't Indonesias caused by religious festivals?

[jacob29]

21 minutes ago, natway09 said:

And still the jury is out.

Indonesia sort stuffs up the theory & Singapore in a relapse

How so? Italy went from 100 deaths to 10'000 deaths in two weeks. Indonesia went from 100 deaths to <400 in two weeks. Even if you assume under-reporting, it's a long way from 10k. That's a pretty solid indicator the rate is slower in Indonesia, which has about the worst death rate in the region.

Edited April 19, 2020 by jacob29

[Tony125]

1 hour ago, HHTel said:

https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-research-study-shows-that-sars-cov-2-coronavirus-can-survive-exposure-to-high-temperatures

 

People comparing covid-19 with the 'flu should be aware that the 'flu is not a corona virus.  The common cold is.

Don't think it's really the temperature it's the high intensity light here that fries it , cloudy day ,smog ,haze poulution not as well   Big difference from cloudy London daytime and BKK

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8231473/US-government-shows-SUNLIGHT-quickly-destroy-coronavirus-says-not-proven.html

[phkauf]

Singapore is rapidly disproving that hypothesis. This is the country to watch since the figures reported are likely to be the most accurate and honest, unlike some other places (Thailand, Cambodia, etc.).

[statman78]

By reading some of the comments I can see that some people did not read the linked article.  According to the link in the OP, there is an indication that sunlight, temperature and humidity does have an effect.  While these things effect the virus they do not immediately kill it.  People can still get infected.  

[FarFlungFalang]

16 hours ago, brokenbone said:

i think the hypothesis of high energy light destroying the virus is plausible,

i think humidity & temperature is irrelevant

This video suggests humidity is a significant factor.

 

 

[Letseng]

16 hours ago, brokenbone said:

i think the hypothesis of high energy light destroying the virus is plausible,

i think humidity & temperature is irrelevant

There are many badly affected Asian countries which have the same or very similar climatic conditions as Thailand. Singapore, Indonesia are 2 examples. Yes, warmer weather reduces common flu. But Covid19 is not common flu.

[phkauf]

1 hour ago, FarFlungFalang said:

This video suggests humidity is a significant factor.

 

This is the one Doctor I trust. He's probably one of the best in the world at these things. And most importantly he is NOT political in his assessments. So many of the TV doctors have an axe to grind on either side of the argument and color their analysis to fit a specific view. So sad that politics has destroyed impartiality in science.

[Ireland32]

4 hours ago, Estrada said:

Those magic wand UV lights take 20 to 30 minutes to destroy the Corona Virons not seconds as the makers seem to indicate. Higher temperature and the right humidity also breaks the Corona Virons apart. The outside humidity in Thailand is an average of 80% and temperature 35C during the day. However, the lower temperatures and controlled humidity inside shopping malls, hotels and large offices with centralised air conditioning systems, can lead to high rates of transmission. One major reasons that they have shut down the shopping malls.

CVC is the one to use 

[TheDark]

2 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

This video suggests humidity is a significant factor.

 

 

Yes, this video does suggest that evaporation of surrounding droplet in dry air makes the virus more easily to float from one place to another. 

 

But I guess this doctor has never experienced a dry winter weather. Experienced how our skin tend to dry out, causing cracks to our skin. Both in our externals, like hands but as well inside our nostrils. 

 

This makes it more easy for viruses to enter our bodies, skipping our primary defence - our skin.

 

Dried up skin is probably a more important factor than evaporation of the air droplets?

[Lacessit]

One could postulate under-reporting in Thailand is the reason infection and death rates here are low. On the other hand, factors such as the spicy diet, the wai in lieu of a handshake, and mass BCG immunization could all be positive variables.

[lamyai3]

3 hours ago, phkauf said:

Singapore is rapidly disproving that hypothesis. This is the country to watch since the figures reported are likely to be the most accurate and honest, unlike some other places (Thailand, Cambodia, etc.).

Singapore numbers have increased in places where overcrowding is rife. It's migrant workers in dormitories, under lockdown conditions where social distancing isn't possible, not comparable to most situations in the west.

 

Agree the point about accurate and honest statistics though, unlikely to get them from most countries in the region. 

[exemplary21]

15 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

A rise in temp often means a change of lifestyle, in winter people meet/congregate indoors in close quarters, dinning, sports, shopping etc. In summer people may tend to be outside more and separated more, beach swimming, golf, outdoor dinning, outdoor markets etc. The difference between an indoor party or an outdoor bbq, swimming etc, 

If temperature is a major factor, it will be negated inside a shopping mall or office block that is heated or cooled to the same temp all year round.

 

 

You certainly make sense, Peter.

 

[Kinnock]

7 hours ago, natway09 said:

And still the jury is out.

Indonesia sort stuffs up the theory & Singapore in a relapse

There's many other factors, and population size, density and religious practices may be a greater influence than the sunlight in Indonesia.