Doctors warn that current weather conditions and carelessness could aggravate COVID-19 symptoms

General public should strictly follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour to ensure that places with common air conditioning and poor ventilation do not prove to be a super-spreader zone.

The lingering second wave and the current weather — combination of high heat and humidity prevailing across some parts of India — has prompted doctors to caution the general public to strictly follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour to ensure that places with common air conditioning and poor ventilation do not prove to be a super-spreader zone. The effect of worsened weather on an ongoing illness contributed in terms of aggravated symptoms, said Anurag Aggarwal, Associate Consultant Internal Medicine, QRG Health City, Faridabad, who added that there was no proven research of how the virus responded to weather conditions. “During the on-going second wave, increased complications were noticed mainly because of mutations and changing form of the virus which perhaps made it more infectious and virulent. General measures like cleaning hands with sanitizer or soap, avoiding crowded places, maintaining social distance, getting vaccinated and wearing masks are protective regardless of weather continue to be vital,’’ he said.