Coronavirus to hit peak worldwide next winter, scientists predict

A scientific model has predicted that the coronavirus outbreak will hit its peak in the next winter season.

Scientists from the universities in Basel and Stockholm have warned that even if the transmission from the virus can fall during the summer before rising again in winter.

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The new model analyzed the effects of seasonal variation on COVID-19  and suggests that the prevalent strain of the novel coronavirus could infect 100 times more people.

It states that we are currently experiencing "small peak in early 2020 in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere" which will be followed by "a larger peak in winter 2020-21".

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According to Dr Emma Hodcroft, a lead scientist of the model, the model focused on the ''general message that there could be substantially more cases if there is a seasonal affect''.

Based on other coronaviruses, the researchers believe the transmission rate will indeed drop as we head into spring and summer but then rise again, infecting as many as 100 million people in total.