Already Hot and Sweaty: A New Obstacle in the Fight Against COVID-19

[경향신문]

Time to Get the Fans Out Again: A fan is installed at a COVID-19 Vaccination Center in Buk-gu, Gwangju. Yonhap News

The unexpected heat and the monsoon-like spring rain have emerged as new challenges in the struggle to contain the novel coronavirus. The longer the people stay indoors to avoid the heat, the higher the risk of contagion. And air-conditioners used in closed spaces to lower the humidity could lead to a large cluster of transmission.

On May 14, the temperature in Seoul reached a high of 30.8 degrees Celsius. This was about eight degrees higher than the average high for this time of the year (22.1), forcing citizens to endure the heat earlier than usual. Just when a hot week with temperatures surpassing 25 degrees seemed to come to an end, the nation saw rain falling for three days, recalling the summer rainy season. According to the “2021 Summer Weather Forecast” and the “Three-Month Forecast” released by the Korea Meteorological Administration, this year is expected to be hotter than the average year. In particular, temperatures in May and July are expected to be higher than average.

The problem is that the early summer weather can become a variable in the nation’s fight against COVID-19. The minute people head indoors to avoid the heat and pouring rain, close the windows and turn on the air-conditioner, they will create an environment fulfilling the “three C’s”--closed, crowded and close. The second and third wave of the virus last year occurred in August and November-December respectively. The number of COVID-19 cases repeatedly surged at times when the use of air-conditioners and heaters increased.

Air-conditioners operated in closed spaces are a principal contributor to the spread of COVID-19. Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited the inhalation of air as a principal route in which the novel coronavirus is transmitted. Jung Eun-kyeong, chief of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency also said on May 13, “The virus can be transmitted through the air in a closed indoor space with poor ventilation and no windows,” and asked the people to be careful saying, “To prevent contagion, it is best to avoid closed spaces. And when this is not possible, you must regularly ventilate the space so that contaminated air is not transmitted.” However, due to the early heat, more and more buses and cafes are closing windows and switching on air-conditioners.

The situation has not improved since a year ago. Last May, the nation confirmed as few as a single-digit number of COVID-19 cases a day and only as many as eighty a day. But according to the announcement by the Central Disease Control Headquarters, as of midnight May 17, the number of daily new cases confirmed was 619. In the past week (May 9-15), authorities confirmed an average of 590.9 cases a day. The number seemed to fall since the third week of April, but recently began to climb again.

Disease control authorities plan to overcome the crisis this summer by administering the first vaccine shots to 13 million people in the first half of the year followed by massive vaccination in July and August, but the earlier-than-expected heat could become a variable. Yoon Tae-ho, director of disease control at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said this day, “We are preparing disease control and prevention measures for this summer corresponding to measures enforced last year. We are reviewing all of the measures we implemented last year.” The Seoul metropolitan government is promoting an “Open the Windows of Seoul” campaign encouraging people to leave a third of the windows open at all times when operating air-conditioners in the summer.

The number of COVID-19 cases is refusing to fall. The number of people who have been vaccinated is increasing at a slow pace. And variants of the virus are spreading in the local community. On top of these conditions, if the summer weather kicks in, the government may have to postpone plans to implement new physical (social) distancing measures for July. Jung Ki-suck, a professor of pulmonary medicine at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital said to the reporter over the phone, “The fact that the number of daily cases is about ten times that of last summer means that the risk of contagion individuals face is also about ten times higher,” and added, “The government has to actively seek ways to improve the problem of ventilation in facilities vulnerable to contagion.”