Centre debunks ‘heat kills virus’ hope

The Central government on Thursday delivered a wake-up call to those making claims that rising temperatures would control and arrest the spread of Novel Coronavirus that causes the dreaded Covid19 disease. The Telangana state government, led on this front by health minister Etala Rajendar, has been among those highly vocal and an avid advocate of a ‘summer heat will rescue people from Covid-19’ theory.

Luv Agarwal, joint secretary, Union ministry of health, said on Thursday that not much was known about the virus. It is a new virus, he said at a news conference. Replying to a pointed question on impact of summer and heat on the virus, Mr Agarwal said, “A lot is not known about the virus,” making it clear, that there was no information on the impact of heat on the virus’ survival rates.

Mr Agarwal’s response flies in the face of repeated assertions by Telangana health minister Etala Rajendar that once summer heat sets in, Covid-19 disease causing virus would not be able to survive. This argument was the basis of his repeated statements that therefore, there was no need to have any fears of the disease spreading in the state.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao too had asserted in the Legislative Assembly last week that once daily temperatures cross 22 degrees Celsius, the virus would not be able to survive.

In fact, at one press conference earlier this month, Mr Rajendar, made this claim for a second time, and when asked about evidence backing the claim, responded that “my assertion was not born out of imagination”.

He had said that the information was based on “what doctors have said and what I have read from articles”.

However, at a subsequent press meet on Covid19, Mr Rajendar, instead of repeating the claim that summer heat and lack of humidity would kill the virus, said, “It is our belief” that the heat will “help in controlling the spread of the virus”.

But the claim came back with full force last Saturday, when Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao repeated the claim in the Assembly that once the temperature crosses 22 degrees Celsius, the virus will not be able to survive.

While some viruses are known not to survive on surfaces in high temperatures, Covid-19 is primarily transmitted through droplets ejected by an infected person’s cough or sneezes that are ingested by others in close contact with such individuals.

● LUV AGARWAL, joint secretary, Union health ministry, said that not much was known about the virus when asked if heat had any impact on the virus’ survival rates