The seasons do not seem to have an impact on the transmission of the virus, which has been linked to more than 650,000 deaths and reached 16 million infections globally, a spokeswoman for the organization, Margaret Harris, said at a remote news conference.

Proof of this is that among the most affected countries there is one, the United States, which is in the middle of summer, and another, Brazil, which is in winter, she indicated.

There seems to be a persistent idea that the virus is seasonal (...) but we all have to keep in mind that it is a new virus, and even if it is a respiratory virus, which historically tend to be seasonal, it behaves differently, Harris said.

However, the WHO spokeswoman acknowledged the concern about the coincidence of the influenza virus, which appears in winter, and the coronavirus, which could increase the overload of health systems.

"So we encourage everyone to get a flu shot," said Harris.

On the other hand, since the appearance of the coronavirus, regular flu cases have not been reported much at all, which may be due to the precautionary measures for the coronavirus; hand washing and social distancing.