With the increase in research regarding the coronavirus infection, there are rising hopes that a treatment or a vaccine will be developed soon. Both of these are needed and mandatory for the end of the coronavirus in the US as well as the rest of the world.
However, health agencies including the World Health Organization have already stated that it may take up to a year for both to become available, which is why people need to continue to follow instructions for the prevention of the further spread of coronavirus.
At the same time, people are also looking towards other theories about the end of coronavirus such as how changes in weather may affect the virus. The vast majority believe that severe summer or winters with extreme temperatures can kill the coronavirus.
The director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, Michael Osterholm, believes that this is not true. It is highly unlikely that heat in the summer or cold in the fall is going to affect the coronavirus in the US.
Last weekend, the US reported a groundbreaking high of thirty-three thousand cases on Saturday. This number of new cases has been the highest since the starting of May. In some states, the cases may even be more than they were prior to the first lockdown.
RELATED: Groundbreaking Record Set in Coronavirus Cases in 12 US States
On the other hand, the government under Trump Administration says that the chances of a second wave of coronavirus infection are very low and the spread has been controlled to a significant extent.
Osterholm states that this is actually true. The chances of the second and third waves of coronavirus are indeed low but this is only because the first wave is far from being over yet.
He added that it is highly unlikely that the spread of the infection is anywhere near being ‘controlled’. The virus is going to spread as long as there are people who remain susceptible to it.
Currently, the vast majority of people not only in the US but also around the world as susceptible to the virus. In fact, health experts have estimated that the infection has only affected four to five percent of the world till now.
Osterholm also explained that the changes in weather are unlikely to affect coronavirus in the US or other countries around the world. SARS-CoV-2 is not similar to the Influenza virus. Hence, the influenza model of seasonal waves cannot be applied to the coronavirus infection.
It is going to be difficult to control and end the coronavirus pandemic. There is a high possibility of second and third waves in the future both of which may be as long as the first one.
The rapid rise in cases can be seen merely by looking at the situation in the US. On Sunday, the total number of cases reached over two million which is the highest in the world along with a death toll of 119,744.
In comparison with the European countries, the cases in the US are much more. Europe, with a population of around 446 million has four thousand new cases of coronavirus per day.
On the other hand, the average number of new cases of coronavirus in the US is around twenty-four thousand. This may be partly due to increased testing but there have also been several outbreaks in nearly a dozen states in the past week.
