{"id":1012,"date":"2020-08-28T13:35:10","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T08:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.potentialloops.org\/?p=1012"},"modified":"2020-08-28T13:35:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T08:05:11","slug":"misconceptions-about-weather-and-seasonality-impact-covid-19-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.potentialloops.org\/?p=1012","title":{"rendered":"Misconceptions about weather and seasonality impact COVID-19 response"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date: August 27, 2020 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source 1: Georgetown University Medical Center <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source 2: www.sciencedaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary: Misconceptions about the way climate and weather impact exposure and transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, create false confidence and have adversely shaped risk perceptions, say researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misconceptions about the way climate and weather impact exposure and transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, create false confidence and have adversely shaped risk perceptions, say a team of Georgetown University researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Future scientific work on this politically-fraught topic needs a more careful approach,” write the scientists in a “Comment” published today in Nature Communications<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors include global change biologist Colin J. Carlson, PhD, an assistant professor at Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Science and Security; senior author Sadie Ryan, PhD, a medical geographer at the University of Florida; Georgetown disease ecologist Shweta Bansal, PhD; and Ana C. R. Gomez, a graduate student at UCLA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team says current messaging on social media and elsewhere “obscures key nuances” of the science around COVID-19 and seasonality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Weather probably influences COVID-19 transmission, but not at a scale sufficient to outweigh the effects of lockdowns or re-openings in populations,” the authors write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors strongly discourage policy be tailored to current understandings of the COVID-climate link, and suggest a few key points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. No human-settled area in the world is protected from COVID-19 transmission by virtue of weather, at any point in the year.<\/li>
  2. Many scientists expect COVID-19 to become seasonal in the long term, conditional on a significant level of immunity, but that condition may be unmet in some regions, depending on the success of outbreak containment.<\/li>
  3. All pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions are currently believed to have a stronger impact on transmission over space and time than any environmental driver.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    “With current scientific data, COVID-19 interventions cannot currently be planned around seasonality,” the authors conclude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Story Source:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Materials<\/a> provided by Georgetown University Medical Center<\/strong><\/a>. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    www.sciencedaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Journal Reference<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Colin J. Carlson, Ana C. R. Gomez, Shweta Bansal, Sadie J. Ryan. Misconceptions about weather and seasonality must not misguide COVID-19 response<\/strong>. Nature Communications<\/em>, 2020; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038\/s41467-020-18150-z<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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