Air pollution increases Covid-19 death risks
Kampala- Researchers from Harvard University School of Public Health in America have discovered that people living in areas with highly polluted air are at a much higher risk to die of Covid-19 disease.
In a press report Daily Monitor has seen on the university website, people with Covid-19 who lived in regions with higher levels of air pollution were more likely to die from the disease than those who live in less polluted areas.
The study was conducted throughout United States of America. It looked at the link between long-term exposure to tiny pollutants called particulate air pollution (PM2.5) and the risk of death from Covid-19.
Pollution
The PM2.5 are extremely small dirt particles that are harmful to the body. They are generated largely from fuel combustion from cars, refineries, household smoke, dusty roads and power plants.
“The study results underscore the importance of continuing to enforce existing air pollution regulations to protect human health both during and after the Covid-19 crisis,” the researchers posted on the university website last Friday.
According to the scientists, exposure to these tiny pollutants causes higher risk of death from cardiovascular and other respiratory ailments.
They say someone who lives for decades in an area with high levels of fine particulate pollution is 15 per cent more likely to die from Covid-19 than someone who lives in a region less of such pollution.
Areas with higher pollution levels have higher numbers of hospitalisations, higher numbers of deaths and where many of theresources should be concentrated, according to the researchers.
Health report
According to 2018 WHO report on air quality, Kampala topped the list of cities in East Africa with the most polluted air.
In the report, staying on a Kampala street for 90 minutes was sufficient to cause damage to one’s health compared to Kaduna in Nigeria where exposure for 105 minutes was likely to cause complications.
