Air Quality Impact during COVID-19: A Case Study in One Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) in Malaysia
Abstract
Novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan, China, soon its rapid escalation in global and become global spread of infection including Malaysia. The principal cases in Malaysia were distinguished on 25th January 2020. The number of cases keeps on ascending since March 2020 until Malaysia has the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia. Therefore, to respond and control the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the 2020 Movement Control Order (MCO) is implemented. The MCO actualizes a movement of reasonable steps to control advance flare-ups of COVID-19 within the country, counting closing down all organization and private premises aside from those related with "fundamental administrations" and several parts with government permission, and travel disallowances on all outsiders entering Malaysia and on Malaysians taking off the country. Correspondingly, this MCO has brought about the decrease of air contamination as the number of engine vehicles and the activity of businesses is suspended. This study aims to determine the concentrations of particulate matter 2.5 at the selected monitoring stations in UTHM and to correlate environmental factor which is wind speed and wind direction with the Particulate Matter 2.5. This study uses PM2.5 fixations to explain the air pollution before to MCO, stages I, II, III, and IV, where the contingent MCO is actualized. Such outcomes relate to the air contamination list as it was discovered that the PM2.5 fixations showed a high decrease of up to -74 μg/m3 during Phase IV MCO.
Keywords: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pandemic, Wuhan, Movement Control Order
DOI：https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.56.3.7
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