FPJ Edit: Heatwave and coronavirus

Summer has been late coming this season. And now that it has come in its full fury, what a summer it is turning out to be. The entire northern region is boiling with a heat wave. It has in its grip a vast swathe of the country from Delhi, UP, Punjab, Rajasthan, parts of Madhya Pradesh and beyond. The Met office predicts that in the coming days more States will experience record temperatures far above 45 degree Celsius. Some parts of the northern plains are, however, likely to get some relief at the weekend, according to the Met office. Why the heat-wave may be of particular interest this year to the medical community engaged in fighting the coronavirus is that it gives them an opportunity to test whether it could be the reason for a relatively lower percentage of infections not only in India but in the subcontinent as a whole. The number of cases relative to population whether it is India or Pakistan or Bangladesh, etc., is far lower than that in the western countries. A number of foreign publications have speculated that temperatures higher than 24 Celsius may act as a likely deterrent against the spread of the virus. We in large parts of the country are experiencing temperatures higher than 40 degree Celsius. Whether it actually helps contain the spread of the virus must be examined, while at the same time everyone is encouraged to take abundant precautions not to be stricken sick by the heat-wave.