Will Covid-19 make Life more Difficult in the Winter?

One of the most common sentences we have heard from experts throughout the pandemic so far is “do your activities outdoors”. Outdoors have become indispensable and relatively safe areas for us in spring and summer. Thanks to outdoor spaces, people were able to do collective activities such as eating and drinking, relaxing and doing sports more easily. But in the winter months, in the cold weather, the question of how we can continue them has come to everyone's mind. As long as there is no miraculous solution, Covid-19 disease will dramatically reduce our quality of life in winter.

This is primarily because the rate of spread of the virus is much higher in confined spaces. Outside, the virus is easily airborne. There is also talk of the effect of solar rays directly killing the virus. Conversely, the virus can be found more concentrated indoors, and due to the dryness of closed spaces, the virus finds itself a more comfortable habitat. One of the important things we know now is that the places where the virus is spreading the fastest are places where a large number of people have been together for a long time in closed spaces.

All respiratory viruses spread much faster in winter than in summer. This is because of what we mentioned above: people are more likely to be together indoors, and the low humidity levels in indoors make it easier for the virus to live. In addition, the tissues in our throat become clearer for viruses to settle as they remain drier in less humid environments.

Another factor that makes everything even more impossible is that the Covid-19 pandemic will coincide with the flu season in winter. The flu season is generally used from November to February. This Covid-19 and flu collision, according to experts, creates concerns for 3 reasons.

First, even if there is no pandemic, the flu disease requires many people to be treated and hospitalized. This will mean that the health resources used for the corona will be somewhat seized by the flu. Already, the health system, which already has to work at full capacity due to Covid-19, is uncertain whether it can handle a flu treatment on it. Second, since both Covid-19 and influenza are respiratory disorders, they can affect each other worse and cause bilateral damage to the respiratory tract. Thirdly, since both diseases show similar symptoms, it will be difficult to understand which one we have experienced. This will make it difficult for hospitals to diagnose Covid-19 and their treatment durations and protocols will be uncertain.