AIR POLLUTION AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A REVIEW

The air environment is the major medium through which COVID-19 is transmitted, and studies have indicated that air pollution particles could help coronavirus travel further in the air. Regions with significant air pollution problems have matched those where the pandemic has the highest impact. Transmission of the virus from contaminated dry surfaces has also been documented. Paradoxically, the lockdown imposed in many regions as a result of the pandemic has resulted in the improvement in the local air quality now, compared to before the pandemic, thereby drastically decreasing the number of fatalities due to air pollution. However, this seeming improvement in air quality may just be temporary. The COVID-19 pandemic would not just disappear overnight, and we have to learn to live with it. While current measures being taken such as social distancing could have an impact in minimizing the risk, air quality is likely to get worse again as restrictions are lifted and the economy resumes. Countries with high level of air pollution therefore need to take improvement in air quality as the only enduring measure of controlling the pandemic.