Source:theatlantic.com

Will Coronavirus Return in the Fall?

The world is still struggling with the novel coronavirus, and the big question is when it will all end. But there is another question that has been bothering people, and it’s: Will coronavirus return in the fall?

Many countries in the world, including the U.S., are trying to move ahead and make plans on reopening their economics and saving what can be saved. But people are scared because of the potential second wave of COVID-19.

The director of the CDC said that the second wave will most definitely happen and that it will be more severe than this one. He stated that the reason for that is the fact that it will probably coincide with the start of the regular flu season.

He tried to explain that there will be a flu epidemic and coronavirus epidemic at the same time.

Source:aljazeera.com

How will it look if the coronavirus returns in the fall?

It’s not going to be easy. If there are two simultaneous respiratory outbreaks, the health-care system will suffer. The current epidemic overwhelmed hospitals and revealed that there is a shortage of ventilators, protective equipment for health workers and that there is a gaping shortage in test kits. So if there are two respiratory outbreaks at the same time, it’s not going to be easy.

Experts are still researching, and they can only say that it’s too early to know if this virus is seasonal or not. The most important thing now is for the federal and state officials to prepare for the upcoming months, as best as they can. Another thing they need to do is to scale up their ability to test people and identify everyone who interacted with the infected so that a more massive outbreak can be prevented.

Social distancing is still essential

Source:getvoip.com

Redfield stated that social distancing is critical and that it will be necessary even when the first wave of the virus finishes.

U.S. health official will have a difficult job in the upcoming months, especially in the summer months, to persuade Americans to take care of themselves and other, respect social distancing and think about fall and the flu season, and get flu shots.

If a person gets a flu shot, it allows someone else who has coronavirus to get a hospital bed.

Redfield also said that we were lucky that the outbreak of coronavirus happened just as the flu season has finished, and if the two outbreaks peaked at the same time, it could be challenging in terms of U.S. health capacity.

There were similar scenarios in the past, of viruses returning in fall

The outbreak of SARS finished when summer happened, and the virus didn’t survive the summer, and these two viruses are similar. The novel coronavirus may fade in the summer months, but it may return in the fall.

It has to be mentioned that during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic, there was the first wave of cases in the spring in the United States, just like now. And it was followed by a second wave in the fall and winter, during the flu season, and that second wave was much more substantial and challenging.