DO WE KNOW WHETHER THE NEW CORONAVIRUS IS “SEASONAL”?

That’s what some infectious disease experts are hoping. But they cannot be sure yet because this virus has not been around long enough for scientists to collect the evidence they need.

“All we have to go on is analogies with other diseases that spread in similar ways,” said Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at Britain’s University of East Anglia.

What specialists do know is respiratory infections like flu, coughs and the common cold can have seasonal influences that make outbreaks of them easier to predict and contain. It’s also known that certain environmental conditions can boost transmission of viruses: Cold weather, humidity, and the way people behave during winter can all affect the trajectory of an epidemic.