After a cold and rainy April, we can finally look forward to well-deserved sunshine and temperatures above 20 degrees. Spring weather is officially coming and it’s bringing some light back into our lives — in more ways than one.
According to Louis Kroes, a virologist at the LUMC in Leiden, “spring, together with vaccinations and the accompanying immunity, will lead to a huge decrease in the number of coronavirus infections.” This means that in a short while, hospitals should be out of trouble.
We’re already seeing a decrease in the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals now. Yesterday there were 2,600 patients hospitalised with coronavirus. Two days earlier, the number was at 2,700, according to RTL Nieuws.
Turning point
If the temperatures keep climbing up, this could be the beginning of a more permanent decline. “In the winter, people spend a lot of time inside, closer to each other, and in rooms that are not or hardly ventilated. Optimal conditions for the transmission of the virus,” says Kroes.
When the weather gets warmer, everything changes. Virologists observe similar seasonal effects in for example influenza virus, where the number of infections drops when the temperatures increase.
Care-free summer?
Kroes adds that we’ve reached a turning point but we still need to be patient. “We now see that many young people are becoming infected. Their mortality is very low but it does generate a lot of work for hospitals.”
If things turn out well, maybe we can actually get that measures-free summer that the Dutch government has been promising.
Are you excited to hear this news? Do you think we’ll be able to enjoy summer to the fullest? Let us know in the comments below!
Feature Image: Bewakoof.com Official/Unsplash
