Air pollution and Covid-19: experience from India
1Public Health Specialist, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, India. manas_proy@yahoo.co.in.
Abstract:
Since the onset of the pandemic caused by Covid-19, air pollution has been repeatedly implicated for a possible role in determining the magnitude of the outbreak. The present paper aims to find out whether such an association exists between air pollution and Covid-19. For examining such a relationship in India, data on air quality parameters (SO2, NO2, PM2.5, and PM10) and Covid-19 from 30 states were considered. The extent of air pollution was seen to influence the pandemic only in certain locations. Future research may consider it as a potential area for quantifying the threshold. The mitigation of the pandemic should incorporate a particular focus on air pollution.
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