More knowledge over the last couple of months has helped to grapple with misinformation surrounding COVID-19 and now that warmer weather is here, the virus did not go away like experts anticipated, says OSF HealthCare Chief Medical Officer for the Monmouth, Galesburg, and Kewanee area Dr. Cliff Martin:
“For a while, we had the hopes that warm weather and heat would kill the virus quickly and that as summer warmed up we would see it go away. As we are now witnessing in states like Texas and Florida, where they had opened up and there was a lot more community exposure, we are seeing a rise. Certainly that is not going to say that the heat and humidity there protected them. We know that it is not at all protection by any means. Even if there is any protection from the heat it is certainly limited,” Dr. Martin states.
As Illinois moves through the phases of Governor Pritzker’s Restore Illinois Plan, Dr. Martin reports they continue to be diligent about watching other states and maintain a reserve of ICU beds in the event of a spike in cases.
