The Guardian speaks with experts about how the cooler weather will likely lead to higher coronavirus transmission during the height of flu season.
Experts said cooler weather would drive people indoors and help the virus spread, just as pandemic fatigue sets in.
Covid-19 transmission is still high across much of the south, filling many hospitals in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions, and ticking up slightly in the north-east. Experts said if current trends held, the death toll could reach 400,000 people before the year is out. More than 215,000 people in the US so far have died of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus research center.
“It’s very important now that the country undertake a really serious commitment to adopting the kinds of policies that are necessary to prevent this virus getting transmitted through a community,” said Stephen Woolf, a professor of family medicine and population health at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“Not having large gatherings, not having big games in football stadiums, not having big political rallies, and many other things the society and politicians are resisting,” he said.
