COVID-19 spreads faster during cold seasons, AMREF Africa boss warns Kenyans

AMREF Africa Group CEO Dr. Githinji Gitahi has reminded Kenyans that they are more likely to contract and spread COVID-19 during the cold season as compared to other seasons.

Gitahi is of the opinion that as seasons change, viruses and environments in which diseases prosper change as well, making people more susceptible to contracting a disease and COVID-19 is no exception.

According to Gitahi, cold air and insufficient sunlight notably affect our bodies' ability to stave off respiratory infections like COVID-19.

“During the cold season, we have a higher prevalence of viral respiratory infections affecting the nose, the throat, the chest. This basically means that either the corona virus itself is having a much better environment because of the temperatures but also that if you have a common cold, you are more likely to transmit COVID-19," Gitahi said during an interview on Citizen TV's JKLIVE show.

Gitahi likewise added that lower temperatures keep the virus stable and infectious for longer, which means that COVID-19 can float around in respiratory droplets for longer periods of time during cold seasons.

The AMREF Africa boss correspondingly stated that during cold seasons most people get respiratory diseases in the form of the common cold but many fail to adhere to COVID-19 prevention protocols when dealing with the flu.

According to Gitahi, when suffering from a cold, some victims may experience a runny nose and when dealing with it might opt to occasionally blow their noses while blatantly disregarding COVID-19 prevention protocols and this may lead in a surge in the number of cases.

"People are blowing their noses, they are coughing, touching their noses without regarding public health measures that we advise," he said.

"So even if someone has a cold and ends up with coronavirus, it is more likely that that person will transmit it because they are touching their noses more frequently because of the common cold so the weather contributes to infections."

Gitahi now wants Kenyans to adhere to the Ministry of Health's directives on taming the spread of COVID-19 such as wearing masks and social distancing in order to keep the disease at bay.

In the last 24 hours, 392 people tested positive for COVID-19 from a sample size of 3,124, translating to a positivity rate of 12.5 per cent.