Role of Air Pollution in COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in clear skies in major cities as most daily activities are temporarily stopped. In this blog post, we will discover how can air pollutants play a role in further affecting human health in the global pandemic.

Researchers in the US are suggesting that air pollution has significantly worsened the COVID-19 pandemic and lead to more deaths (Gerretsen, 2020). The researchers also suggest that if pollution-free skies were the norm, the number of deaths could be greatly reduced (Gerretsen, 2020). Similarly, people who lived in a polluted area for a long period, this prolonged exposure also suggested that air pollution particles may be acting as a medium for viral transmission. Thus, these new findings will require greater research which could have a major impact on how governments choose to ease lockdowns as the pandemic transmission reduces and also the importance of improving air quality to overcome the pandemic.

A study of air quality in Italy Northern areas of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna shows that there is a correlation between Covid-19 mortality rates and high levels of pollution. Lombardy represents the largest majority of Italy’s deaths, at 13,325 of Italy’s 26,644 as of 26 April. On the other hand, Emilia Romagna was the next province with the next largest death count, at 3,386. The researches who analyses the correlation questioned the role of low air quality in these areas. They found that the high level of air pollution in the northern area of Italy which results in a high level of mortality from COVID-19

Furthermore, there were studies found in previous major health outbreaks where researchers found a strong link between air pollution levels and deaths from viral diseases. For instance, a 2003 study found that patients with SARS, a similar respiratory virus to COVID-19, were 84% more likely to die if they lived in areas with high levels of pollution (Gerretsen, 2020).

Similarly, a group of scientist from the University of Cambridge also discovered a possible link between the severity of COVID-19 and air quality (Nicholls, 2020). They found that the largest number of COVID-19 deaths in England was situated across London and the Midlands. In addition to that, previous studies showed that the annual average of N02 concentrations is also largest in these regions. The research found that there is evidence that COVID-19 mortality is associated with increased in N0 and N02 in England (Nicholls, 2020). London, the Midlands and the Northwest reflect the largest concentration of these air pollutants, while the southern regions showing the lowest level and the number of COVID-19 deaths follows a similar trend (Nicholls, 2020). Through this, we can see that when people in an environment that is more exposed to air pollution, this contribute to a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from coronavirus and hence associated deaths.

To conclude, we can see that air pollution can worsen the COVID-19 pandemic as low air quality further exacerbate a wide range of respiratory illnesses and further facilitates coronavirus transmission. We could also see that air pollution has a geographical distribution where it links with the COVID-19 mortalities. Lastly, more work needs to be done to further collect findings and discover connections between air pollution and COVID-19 deaths. This would certainly allow more concrete policies to be implemented to mitigate such a global pandemic through a more active role in ensuring clearer skies to be the norm and not temporary only during a lockdown.

References:

Gerretsen, I. (2020, April 28). How air pollution exacerbates Covid-19. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200427-how-air-pollution-exacerbates-covid-19

Nicholls, M. (2020, September 24). Air pollution linked to higher COVID-19 mortality.  https://healthcare-in-europe.com/en/news/air-pollution-linked-to-higher-covid-19-mortality.html