‘No proof that summer will end the pandemic’: health expert

Muscat: While some believe that the beginning of the summer will see the end of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; a health expert in Oman has come forward to quash this notion.

Dr. Sara Al Rawas, Consultant of Internal Disease at the Royal Hospital, while responding to when she felt the pandemic was likely to end, said: “There is no proof confirming that the summer ends the pandemic because the body temperature is not affected by the weather. But, the characteristics of the virus may change and the lifespan of it on surfaces may decrease.”

Al Rawas continued saying that the question is not when the pandemic will end but how to deal with a new reality and look at the positive side.

“This includes the emergence of international scientific partnerships in limiting the spread of the virus, as well as lifting information secrecy on many technologies and medicines, which would help us benefit from it locally in the future,” she explained.

She pointed out: “The spread of the virus in some governorates was higher than others due to the variation in population density and economic and tourism activities. The upward curve of the spread of the disease is reassuring so far in the Sultanate,”
Al Rawas added.

“The number of cases must rise largely every six days, but the numbers recorded in the Sultanate indicate the opposite, and this is due to the lockdown of some governorates and the commitment of individuals to social distancing.”