Will High Summer Temperatures Stem Coronavirus’ Spread in Pakistan?

Recently Prime Minister Imran Khan in his address emphasized the seriousness of the issue facing the country and urged people to practice social distancing for the next few weeks. By then he hoped that given the hot upcoming summer weather the virus would find it difficult to thrive resulting in lower transmission rates. To be fair to the Prime Minister, he has a point, one that is backed by an observed inverse correlation between numbers of infections and average temperatures globally. Having said that, experts warn that there is no guarantee that hotter temperature will completely get rid of the virus. Regions such as Brazil and Australia that have higher temperatures in the southern hemisphere, although not being hotspots for the virus have confirmed cases of the virus infections. It is important that we take necessary steps to stop the spread of the virus and not rely entirely on the summer temperatures. Experts warns that even if upcoming summer results in lower transmission rates, the virus will survive and potentially a surge in transmission will ensue once the weather gets milder.