What’s Going to Happen When Summer Gets Here?
How seasonality and climate affect SARS-CoV-2
There has been much speculation over the effects of climate on the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This is obviously a difficult question, as there are many variables to tease apart, including: population density, socioeconomic status, geography, and cultural norms. Viral -transmission seems to occur more easily indoors than outdoors. Another question which has a bearing on the effect of climate is whether infection is acquired from surfaces to any degree; although the virus is known to be spread via droplets or aerosol. A key question is the extent to which seasonal and geographic climate variations are relevant in the pandemic phase of SARA-CoV-2 infection.
What are the data from the real world, as distinguished from the laboratory? It was observed by Sajadi et al. early in the pandemic that infection spread correlated with latitude, humidity and temperature (1). Specifically, the computational analysis based on climate data suggested that spread was hampered by higher temperatures and tropical climates, and that SARS-CoV2 could be seasonal. Other studies also support that cold, dry conditions increase the transmission of the virus (2-3). In Mexico, a local scale study showed that greater spread of SARS-CoV-2 correlated with a moderate climate versus tropical or dry climates (4). However, the spread of viruses in locales such as Singapore suggest that the situation is likely more complicated. As far as is possible, we’ll try to separate out individual variables such as sunlight, temperature, and humidity.
A broad consensus exists that there is at most a weak correlation with temperature; (although some of the reports are conflicting), and that higher temperatures will not suffice to greatly influence virus transmission. Scafetta reported that in selected areas in Italy, the United States, and China, transmission seemed to be most efficient at temperatures between 4 °C and 12 °C, and relative humidity between 60% and 80% https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/10/3493/htm; although differences in age of the respective populations were a possible confounding factor. Huang et al. (5) reported that globally the optimal conditions for transmission appeared to be temperatures between 4 °C and 12 °C, and relative humidity between 60% and 80%. Prata et al. reported an opposite correlation with a negative linear relationship between temperatures and daily cases of COVID-19 in from 16.8 °C to 27.4 °C. Bashir et al. (6) presented essentially similar findings for New York. Taking all of the reports into account, there appears to be a weak but consistent effect of higher temperatures on reducing viral transmission. However, the mechanism is unclear and is muddled by other variables such as population density and changes in behavior. In contrast, Auler et al. (-7) reported that in Brazil, higher temperatures and average humidity favored transmission.
What about humidity? Juni et al. (8) looked worldwide at infection rates and found no correlation with temperature, but did find an inverse correlation with relative humidity that was quite weak compared with correlations with other factors such as school closures, restrictions on social gatherings and social distancing. Ward et al. (9) showed an inverse correlation of viral spread in Australia with morning humidity, but not with afternoon humidity or temperature. As with temperature, the relationship with humidity is likely to be complex and associated with various behavioral factors.
Finally, what about sunlight intensity? Again, there are many variables. A significant one mentioned earlier, is the extent to which transmission is from droplets, as opposed to from surfaces. If, as is seeming more likely, most transmission is from droplets, inactivation of virus on surfaces by sunlight will probably not factor into transmission rates to any great extent.
So what will summer in temperate climates bring? One recent study suggests that while climate may play a role in modulating detailed aspects of the size and timescales of a pandemic outbreak within a particular location, population immunity is a much more fundamental driver of pandemic invasion dynamics (10). In terms of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, summertime temperatures will not effectively limit the spread the infection. A more detailed understanding of climate drivers, as well as immunity length will be crucial for understanding the implications of control measures. As observed with other infectious diseases, achieving herd immunity to COVID-19 will be crucial to protect the public.
The GVN believes that we will have to wait and see to separate for proper multifactorial analysis. However, to the extent that people will spend more time outdoors in the summer, due to sports, gardening, outdoor seating at restaurants and other venues, and other outdoor activities, and to a reduction in indoor gatherings where much of the infections appear to take place, and to the recent trend in the slowing of new infections, our thoughts are that we will see further and substantial reductions in the summer. What happens in fall and winter is, at this point, totally unclear. Hopefully, by then we will have better antivirals and perhaps be well on the road to a vaccine.
- M. Sajadi, P. Habibzadeh, A. Vintzileos, S. Shokouhi, F. Miralles-Wilhelm, A. Amoroso, Temperature, humidity and latitude analysis to predict potential spread and seasonality for COVID-19. 5 March 2020; .doi:10.2139/ssrn.3550308
- Francesca Benedetti, Robert Gallo, Davide Zella, et al: Increase correlation between average monthly high temperature and COVID-19 related death rates in different geographical areas. 20 May 2020; doi: 1021203/rs.3.rs-290239/v1
- Q. Bukhari, Y. Jameel, Will coronavirus pandemic diminish by summer? 17 March 2020; .doi:10.2139/ssrn.3556998
- J. Wang, K. Tang, K. Feng, W. Lv, High temperature and high humidity reduce the transmission of COVID-19. 9 March 2020; .doi:10.2139/ssrn.3551767
- F. Mendez-Arriaga, The temperature and regional climate effects on communitarian COVID-19 contagion in Mexico throughout phase 1. Sci Total Environ 735, 139560 (2020).
- Z. Huang et al., Optimal temperature zone for the dispersal of COVID-19. Sci Total Environ, 139487 (2020).
- M. F. Bashir et al., Correlation between climate indicators and COVID-19 pandemic in New York, USA. Sci Total Environ 728, 138835 (2020).
- A. C. Auler, F. A. M. Cassaro, V. O. da Silva, L. F. Pires, Evidence that high temperatures and intermediate relative humidity might favor the spread of COVID-19 in tropical climate: A case study for the most affected Brazilian cities. Sci Total Environ 729, 139090 (2020).
- P. Juni et al., Impact of climate and public health interventions on the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective cohort study. CMAJ, (2020).
- M. P. Ward, S. Xiao, Z. Zhang, The Role of Climate During the COVID-19 epidemic in New South Wales, Australia. Transbound Emerg Dis, (2020).
- Baker RE, Yang W, Vecchi GA, Metcalf CJE, Grenfell BT. Susceptible supply limits the role of climate in the early SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. 2020 May 18. Science. 2020; eabc2535. doi:10.1126/science.abc2535