Is Coronavirus transmission affected by the season of the host country / hemisphere?

Question

First when the Coronavirus outbreak happened in China, some people argued that the outbreak had to do with a supposed faulty chinese health care system, due to China not being a "developed country". But now in South Korea and Italy, supposed "developed countries" the cases are increasing even at over a 100% rate per day some days. Now in Italy the first cases appeared apparently in 31 January and in South Korea apparently in 20 January. So in 3 / 4 weeks those countries jumped from units to hundreds / over a thousand cases. Yet in another "developed country" like Australia, the first case was reported 25 January , but the country was able to keep the number of cases below / in 23 for a month.

Can be a factor contributing to the outbreaks in South Korea / Italy the fact that they are in the northern hemisphere / winter , and that Australia is in the southern hemisphere / summer by February? Could an outbreak as fast as those which happened in South Korea / Italy happen in a country which is in summer by the time it happens?

Answer 1

This is not scientifically determined as of today (February 27, 2020). In other words: Nobody knows if temperature/climate/weather has an impact or not. See CDC website for detailed info on this aspect.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html

I quote (as of February 27, 2020):

"Q: Will warm weather stop the outbreak of COVID-19?

A: It is not yet known whether weather and temperature impact the spread of COVID-19. Some other viruses, like the common cold and flu, spread more during cold weather months but that does not mean it is impossible to become sick with these viruses during other months. At this time, it is not known whether the spread of COVID-19 will decrease when weather becomes warmer. There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with COVID-19 and investigations are ongoing."