Going back 17 years to 2003, the SARS epidemic mysteriously subsided by summer after ravaging for more than half a year, starting in winter. Many are hoping that the novel coronavirus, which also surged in winter, could naturally disappear as the weather gets warmer.

However, people's guards cannot be let down as experts pointed out that no evidence suggests the novel coronavirus will disappear in summer.

Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a call interview on February 12 that this assumption was premature. "We haven't been through even a single year with this pathogen."

"It is a false hope to say, 'Yes it will just disappear in summertime, like influenza virus,'" Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said on Friday. He echoed WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' briefing on March 3 that the virus is not SARS, MERS or influenza, but "a unique virus with unique characteristics."

"There is no evidence right now to suggest that that will happen," said Ryan, adding that the activity or behavior of the virus in different climatic conditions remains unclear.

Ryan stressed that countries should "assume the virus will continue to have the capacity to spread" and make every effort to fight against the epidemic.

He also urged countries not to blame each other as disease can appear anywhere on earth.

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