(Eagle News) — The novel coronavirus thrives better in areas with low temperature and low humidity, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Friday, Jan. 31.
According to Duque, who gave an interview over ANC, this was why China, Japan, Korea, the United States, Germany and France were the first ones to report cases of the 2019-nCoV.
He said the virus was relatively easier to control in a tropical country like the Philippines.
“I believe that the climate has something to do with it,” he said.
The novel coronavirus has an incubation period of 10 to 14 days.
The Philippines confirmed on Thursday, Jan. 30, the first novel coronavirus case in the country.
Duque said the 38-year-old woman from Wuhan, China was, however, already undergoing treatment in a Manila hospital.
President Rodrigo Duterte will ban travelers from Hubei province in China, where Wuhan is located, to the country temporarily as a result, Senator Bong Go said.
