Winter in a Pandemic

With winter coming, the COVID-19 pandemic is still here. Experts warn as temperatures fall and indoor gatherings increase, there will be a rise in cases.

The director of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention in an interview stated that the most difficult times will be in the fall and winter months. A major reason for this prediction relates to the death from COVID-19 and how these cases crossed 100,000 since July. Donald Trump promised the people of the US that vaccines could be available within weeks, and the virus will disappear.

However, the sad reality is that we could not create a vaccination for this upcoming cold season. Currently, candidates are participants of a trial vaccine phase, and the results of trial will arrive in November. But even if the results are positive of the trials, the vaccine could not be widely available until the summer of next year. Experts say that 50 million to 100 million vaccine doses could be available in early 2021, which could be enough to treat 11 percent of the population. On the other hand, COVID-19 would diminish gradually after this upcoming season. Health professionals will focus to minimize the effect of the pandemic and apply the survival methods in the coming months.

Viruses react differently in different seasons, and the elements of the upcoming season, such as temperature and humidity in the air, make the viruses difficult to escape. Due to the cold weather outside, people will try to move activities indoors to protect themselves from the harshness of cold season. However, this strategy will make the air recirculate in a close area. Therefore, business owners and people at home should keep windows open, which will allow the air circulation to remain normal.

This upcoming season also impacts our body mechanism. When the weather is cold outside, people will be inactive, which will weaken the immune system. The body with a weak immune system has more chances to be attacked by the virus. Therefore, it is important for people to stay home during the colder months.

We can also figure out the challenging situation of upcoming cold season with the experience of previous epidemics such as the 1918 influenza epidemics, which tend to travel in waves. Previous epidemics show that the first fall and winter waves were the worst. According to Stephen Kissler, the researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Coronavirus pandemic has many similarities with the 2009 influenza epidemic. This upcoming season has already started showing its impact in countries such as a sudden increase in Coronavirus cases in South Africa, and Melbourne has been locked down due to colder weather.

We have to accept the seriousness of the epidemic in the colder weather and should think about necessary measures that will help to mitigate many problems. The following are some of the recommendations by experts to navigate through Coronavirus epidemic during colder weather.

Lockdown planning

The colder weather will move all the gatherings inside, allowing an increase in Coronavirus cases and the death rate. In July, California allowed some churches and indoor activities. After then, the state saw a rise in Coronavirus cases. The University of North Carolina decided to reopen in August, but they sent students back home after a week. These current situations show a blurred picture of the future and tell us to be prepared to shut down schools, cities, and businesses again. Even if we are not hoping for such an extreme situation, we have to be prepared.

People are reopening the businesses, but some business owners are not applying proper safety practices. Many workplaces reopened, but did not conduct precautionary guidelines and were shut back down or warned to reduce the capacity. People must represent themselves as responsible citizens and should adhere to all guidelines, which each person can contribute to controlling the epidemic. If we do not work on policies, we will again see the situation that we saw in spring. It is important to keep maintaining social distance, regardless if you are in the home, office, or shopping mall. The experts are saying that if we work on all guidelines, then we are not going to see any severe number of cases in colder months, as we saw in March or April.

Live an infectious life

It might seem scary to live an infectious life, but it means to be careful. You should be attentive of all your actions, such as where you are, what you eat, what you do, and what's coming in and out of your mouth. During the colder months, there are chances of transmission of the virus through air particles. So, to protect ourselves, we have to plan for the upcoming season and live with caution. Since indoor gatherings will increase in the colder months, the liquid particles that humans produce while breathing, eating, speaking, coughing, or sneezing can be dangerous. We cannot stop ourselves from these natural things, but we could minimize its effect by wearing masks and conducting other preventive measures.

Wearing masks and maintaining social distance will surely help us, but there is another factor that we could not ignore. It is important to make sure to interact with people as little as possible because virus transmission can occur through close proximity. You will be more likely to attack by the virus in more extended interaction as you will inhale higher. A professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine recommends that if someone cough or sneeze near you, start breathing out and immediately move from that place, and it will prevent you from inhaling infectious droplets.

It is also important to keep your body active as much as you can. Even if it is colder outside, it is crucial to stay active and exercise. People can still workout outside. It will be a bit harder to leave a pleasant warm place and go out for exercise, but it will work to strengthen the body's immunity, and prevent you from diseases. It will strengthen your immune system so you can enjoy a healthy life without going to the hospital for tests.

Preparation of infrastructure

There is a famous quote, "prevention is better than cure." As we have faced the worst conditions of the epidemic in the previous months and doubt that it would occur again, we have to be prepared for it. We can create the best solutions and upgrade the policies to make cities, businesses, schools, public places, and ourselves resistant from the epidemic. It is time to make and conduct a safe infrastructure for business people and employees to sustain the economic conditions of the country.

Businesses can upgrade their policies by making good indoor air quality by keeping windows open or any other source with clear ventilation. They can minimize the spread of the virus by applying ventilation upgrades and creating remote job opportunities through which employees can work from home. Business owners can also reduce the indoor spread of the virus through telecommunications or shifting workflows, which will spread the people and decrease the indoor density. Owners of restaurants and dining areas could also conduct these guidelines for a proper and safe work environment instead of a shutdown policy.

Conducting these precautionary measures will help each country stabilize its economy because if all the shops, restaurants, offices, schools, and malls shut down, the economy could collapse again. By maintaining safe environment guidelines, we can save the country from an economic crisis. The government is also trying to keep a secure infrastructure by making safe quarantine spaces and a constant supply chain of everything needed to live in this new normal. As citizens, we should also fulfill our responsibility by conducting safety guidelines and sending all the sick people to hospitals to seek care before any severe condition or as prevention from spreading the virus. Also, we should interact with people only when it is necessary.

Knowing the Virus

Some people are sensitive to the change in weather, and often get the flu at the start of upcoming season. So, they might be confused in the coming months because the symptoms of the flu and Coronavirus have many similarities. In this condition, we have to develop ways to detect the difference between Coronavirus and the flu. A biostatistician at the University of Florida, Natalie Dean, said no one could distinguish flu from Coronavirus without testing the person. The symptoms of flu and Coronavirus are the same and always need a test to assure the exact disease. Every cough or sneeze does not mean to be Coronavirus, and it can be a regular flu. It is important to distinguish the real patient of Coronavirus, which will keep the workplaces safe. We have to know the actual symptoms of Coronavirus and then conduct a test before making any decision.

We have to bring advancement in our medical testing procedures to detect diseases in a fast and reliable way. Our future also relies on these advancements. The PCR tests, the most used test for diagnosis, are no more efficient for massive scale screening. They cannot identify every infection and demand many resources for a comprehensive surveillance system. Therefore, the need for new ways of testing is incredibly increasing. The experts say that November will be the innovative month in the testing industry as many unique ways will come to the markets as a fast and reliable method. These methods will allow the patients to get results within minutes of testing at schools, offices, or public places. The focus of these methods is not only to give you faster results, but also concerns about high-level accuracy. The results will be coordinated nationally to track the precise numbers of cases. Currently, these methods are in trial phases, and if they work well, they will be the most effective tools of testing in history.

Final Verdict

We have to accept the reality of Coronavirus in colder months and should work on all the recommendations given by professionals and experts to minimize the effect of Coronavirus. By doing this, you can prevent your loved ones from dying, or if you become stubborn and do not follow the guidelines, you can be the reason for sending loved ones to Intensive Care Units or quarantine spaces. Working on policies will also minimize the chances of shut down, so be a responsible citizen and contribute to developing a strong country in the epidemic.