Will climate change make Covid-19 worse?

As world leaders clamour to find solutions to a warming planet, experts have cleared the air on how climate change will affect the spread and severity of Covid-19.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is “no evidence of a direct connection between climate change and the emergence or transmission of Covid-19”.

It acknowledged, however, that climate change may have indirect effects on the spread of the coronavirus through humans changing the natural environment.

“More generally, most emerging infectious diseases, and almost all recent pandemics, originate in wildlife, and there is evidence that increasing human pressure on the natural environment may drive disease emergence.”

The organisation said the solution was to strengthen health systems, improve surveillance of infectious disease in wildlife, livestock and humans, and offer greater protection of biodiversity and the natural environment.

It also called for people to adhere to health guidelines such as wearing a mask, social distancing and sanitising to reduce transmission of the coronavirus.