(DRAFT 1) Assignment 2 Article Summary: What We Do and Don’t Know about the Links between Air Pollution and Coronavirus

In the article "What We Do and Don’t Know about the Links between Air Pollution and Coronavirus",  Lewis, reported in The Conversion (13 May 2020) that connecting air pollution and coronavirus is superficial. He states that correlating the two “have often failed to take other geographically-connected factors into account”. He says that air pollution in rich countries is “usually a population-centred problem”, this close link between cities and air pollution makes it hard to identify how pollution affects the mortality of COVID-19. He then focuses on urban areas, stating that they face similar situations through the regular use of the mass transit system. Air pollution data is one of the only legitimate data that is easily accessible, leading to one having the misconception that air pollution has a proportionate effect on COVID-19 while referring to the data. The writer believes that more datasets will appear in the future to allow one to study the connections between air pollution and COVID-19. Until that happens, he believes that connecting the two is inaccurate.

While I believe that air pollution and COVID-19 are correlated, there are also other factors that contribute to the growth of the virus.

In an article by Lau (2020), an ecological study was conducted during the SARS outbreak in 2003 where it affected many countries. It was discovered that there was a “positive correlation between SARS-related deaths and ambient air pollution in both short-term and long-term exposure”. As the symptoms in COVID-19 and SARS were quite similar, the study had come to the conclusion that air pollution may affect a person that had contracted the illness in one way or another. An example of a country with high air pollution is in Northern Italy, which is one of the most polluted places in Europe. It was discovered that there was a high level of fatalities. Therefore, it can be linked that having high levels of air pollution contributes to the high COVID-19 fatality rate.

Reference:

Alistair Levis (2020). What We Do and Don’t Know about the Links between Air Pollution and Coronavirus. https://theconversation.com/what-we-do-and-dont-know-about-the-links-between-air-pollution-and-coronavirus-137746

Bon Lau (2020). How Air Pollution Contributes to the Spread of COVID-19.

https://earth.org/air-pollution-exacerbating-the-spread-of-covid-19/

Isabelle Gerretsen (2020 How air pollution exacerbates Covid-19

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200427-how-air-pollution-exacerbates-covid-19

American Lung Association (2020) The important link between air pollution and increased COVID-19 deaths

 https://www.lung.org/blog/air-pollution-and-covid-19-link

Influencing factors of COVID-19 spreading: a case study of Thailand

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10389-020-01329-5