Diffuse Factors of COVID-19 in Environment and Related Health Effects

It is well known that climate and environmental factors affect the diffusion of COVID-19. This study analyzes the role of wind speed and temperature associate with air pollution in cities categorized with their population density. The paper found that, in the period after lockdown, but before air pollution reduced because of lockdown, air pollution was a more important factor for COVID transmission than human-to-human transmission. The results also suggested that, among Italian provincial capitals, the number of infected people was higher in cities with >100 days per year exceeding limits set for PM10 or ozone, cities located in hinterland zones (i.e. away from the coast), cities having a low average intensity of wind speed and cities with a lower temperature. In hinterland cities (mostly those bordering large urban conurbations) with a high number of days exceeding PM10 and ozone limits, coupled with low wind speed, the average number of infected people on April 2020 more than doubled that of more windy coastal cities that had also exceeded the air pollution limits. In those cities with over 100 days of air pollution exceeding PM10 limits, the average number of infected people on April 2020 more than tripled those that had less than 100 days of excessive air pollution. These findings provide valuable insight into geo-environmental factors that may accelerate the diffusion of COVID-19 and similar viral agents