It is easier to get infected in winter than in summer — this is true for the Corona pandemic, for influenza, and for other viral diseases. Relative humidity plays an important role in this. Outdoors, it is much higher outside in winter than in summer, as can be seen from the fact that our breath condenses into droplets in the cold air.

Previous models assumed that only large droplets pose a relevant risk of infection because small droplets evaporate quickly. At TU Wien (Vienna), however, in cooperation with the University of Padova, it has now been shown that this is not true: Due to the high humidity of the air we breathe, even small droplets can remain in the air much longer than previously assumed. The study was published in the scientific journal PNAS.

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