Impact and Correlation of Air Quality and Climate Variables with COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly stopped the steady life and enhanced environmental quality. To apprehend the transmission of COVID-19 and the improvement of air quality, we have studied air quality indicators (PM2.5, PM10, AQI, and NO2), CO2 emission, and climate variables (temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, and wind velocity) in the extremely polluted and densely populated Southeast Asian megacity Dhaka, Bangladesh from March to June 2020. The Kendall and Spearman correlations were chosen to test the connotation of air quality and climate variables with COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. The average concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, and CO2 were 65.0 with STD of 37.9 and 87.1 with STD of 52.8 microgram m-3, and 427 with STD of 11.8 ppm, respectively. The average PM2.5 and PM10 drastically reduced up to 62% during COVID-19 lockdown in Dhaka comparing with March 2020 (before lockdown). Comparing with the same period in 2019, PM2.5 reduced up to 33.5%. The average NO2 concentration was 35.0 micromol m-2 during the lockdown period in April, whereas 175.0 micromol m-2 during March (before lockdown). A significant correlation was observed between COVID-19 cases and air quality indicators. A strong correlation was obtained between climate variables and the total number of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality representing a favorable condition for spreading the virus. Our study will be very expedient for policymakers to establish a mechanism for air pollution mitigation based on scientific substantiation, and also will be an essential reference for the advance research to improve urban air quality and the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the tropical nations.

A Brief Review on Changes in Air Pollution Scenario over South Asia during COVID-19 Lockdown

“…Phase wise lockdown, extended until 30 th May, 2020, led to about two third reduction in ambient levels of SO2 and NO2 as compared to 2019 in same duration (Islam et al, 2021). Studies of Dhaka city have also found a significant correlation between air quality parameters and COVID-19 transmission which confirms that full and partial lockdown helped in flattening the infected cases curve (Pavel et al, 2020;Rahman et al, 2020).…”

“…In order to prevent the spread of virus COVID-19, the Bangladeshi authorities imposed ban on passenger travel via domestic flights, railways and water routes from March 24, 2020 and suspended all public transport from March 26, 2020 (Pavel et al, 2020). However, trucks, and vehicles carrying essential food items, medicine, fuel and other perishable materials were kept out of purview of the lockdown.…”

IoT-Based Remote Health Monitoring System Employing Smart Sensors for Asthma Patients during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Research studies have shown that air pollution reduces immune responses in humans, enabling viruses such as the coronavirus to become severe in most cases. The rising trend [22].…”

Substantial changes in Gaseous pollutants and health effects during COVID-19 in Delhi, India

“…Several studies reported a significant reduction in air pollutants across 91 Indian cities during the month of March 2020, which were leading to in ‘satisfactory’ to ‘good’ category ( Dumka et al, 2020 , Jain & Sharma, 2020 ; Navinya, Patidar & Phuleria, 2020 ; Metya et al, 2020a ; Metya et al, 2020b ; Manisha & Kulshrestha, 2021 ). This drastic improvement in AQI was observed across the Indian sub-continent; AQI was improved in Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore (Khurshied, 2020; Ali et al, 2020 ), Kathmandu ( Pant et al, 2020 ; Shrestha & Shrestha, 2005 ), and Bangladesh ( Pavel et al, 2020 ; Islam et al, 2021 ).…”