Why hasn’t the heat stopped the spread of COVID-19?

Florida should have been the first state without the virus, right?

Extreme heat impacts on COVID-19 testing sites

We all heard the notion that heat would help slow or stop the spread of COVID-19.

In April, President Donald Trump said his coronavirus task force had research that indicated heat and humidity may kill or slow the spread of COVID-19, saying the findings may indicate that the disease could be less contagious in summer months.

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So what gives? Florida hit record high temps in June and yet the coronavirus seems to be soaring higher and higher every week.

Dr. Francis Collins, of the National Institue of Health, said data has only provided hints that warm weather may slow the spread of COVID-19, but extensive data would need to be collected to determine if this is really the case.

According to experts, we can only blame ourselves for the alarming increase in COVID-19 cases.

Medical experts said the rise in cases come down to three key components:

  • The fact that no person is immune to the new disease
  • How the coronavirus spreads from person to person
  • The way we treat and act during the pandemic

According to WCNC, scientists and medical experts said the warm weather would only slow down the spread of a virus after a majority of the population was immune to it.

Initially, research suggested that sunlight could kill the virus on surfaces. But we now know that it’s very unlikely for a person to catch the virus that way.

CDC officials stress that while the risk is low, there is still a chance a person could get coronavirus if they touch a contaminated surface. However, they say the main threat continues to be through person-to-person contact.

“It’s important to note that person-to-person spread can happen on a continuum. Some viruses are highly contagious (like measles), while other viruses are less so,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote on its website.

The most important factor of all is our behavior.

As states reopened and a majority of the population hit the streets after being cooped up inside for months, we find ourselves getting out more often and thinking as if the pandemic is behind us.

That means that as we congregate and socialize, we take fewer precautions. Sometimes taking less precautions than when the virus was at its so-called peak in spring.

As annoying as it can be, the best way to help slow the spread of the virus, and we know you’ve heard this many times by now, is to wear a face covering.

CDC officials said if everyone wore a face covering, the virus could be under control in weeks.

If we didn’t live in a subtropical climate, wearing a mask probably wouldn’t be that bad. But when you live a place as beautiful and as warm as Florida we have to pay the price.

More stores are requiring face coverings to be worn and more and more city and state officials are implementing mask mandates.

MORE: Kohl’s requiring shoppers to wear face coverings

So, even if you don’t like wearing one, do it for the people around you and the people in your life. The mask isn’t to protect you, its to protect everyone else.


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