Experts weigh in on why summer didn't kill the coronavirus

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in March, White House officials’ hopes seemed high that summer would stem the tide of COVID-19. During an April 24 White House coronavirus task force briefing, William Bryan, the acting undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security, touted “emerging evidence” that reportedly showed SARS-CoV-2 would die more quickly in the presence of sunlight and humidity.Scientists were dubious that this would have a major effect, pointing to countries with already-warm weather that were then experiencing outbreaks. Now mid-July, with over 3.4 million U.S. cases and record-breaking daily cases in some of the warmest states, scientists are realizing their predictions were right — and are shining a light on what the officials may have missed.

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