There is probably an optimal humidity level, but looking at data from other viruses is producing very mixed results about what that level might be. Does anyone else want to dig through some more papers? This might also be a case where better data will be available in a few weeks.
This study found that environmental humidity was positively correlated with nCoV rate of spread. This paper measured surface persistence of SARS, and found that it persisted less at moderate relative humidity (50%) than at low (20%) or high (80%) humidity. This paper tested MERS-CoV, and found that increasing humidity from 40% to 80% decreased persistence on steel, but increased persistence on plastic.
There is probably an optimal humidity level, but looking at data from other viruses is producing very mixed results about what that level might be. Does anyone else want to dig through some more papers? This might also be a case where better data will be available in a few weeks.
This study found that environmental humidity was positively correlated with nCoV rate of spread. This paper measured surface persistence of SARS, and found that it persisted less at moderate relative humidity (50%) than at low (20%) or high (80%) humidity. This paper tested MERS-CoV, and found that increasing humidity from 40% to 80% decreased persistence on steel, but increased persistence on plastic.