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Coronavirus concerns spike in India amidst toxic air pollution

The polluted city of New Delhi. Photo:Getty

 

Coronavirus concerns spike in India amidst toxic air pollution

 

By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | NOVEMBER 5th 2020

 

On Thursday, the Indian capital city of New Delhi had suffered its worst recorded air quality in a year, causing fears over the effects of coronavirus to rise as a result. New Delhi is infamous for having the worst air quality of any city globally.

The air quality was recorded on Thursday to be fourteen times over the safe limit that had been assigned by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The toxicity concentration was recorded at PM2.5 particles. This kind of air quality can cause severe health risks to people’s respiratory systems, thus worsening COVID-19 effects – which specifically target the respiratory system.

PM2.5 particles are particularly dangerous, said the WHO, due to their potential to enter a person’s bloodstream and penetrate the barrier of the lungs, causing a heightened risk of lung cancer and other severe illnesses.

“At this time in Delhi, coronavirus and pollution are causing a major havoc,” New Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal stated on Twitter. “We are seeing all round the sky is covered with smoke, and because of this the situation from coronavirus is worsening.”

Across Wintertime, particularly throughout the months of October and November, the air pollution tends to worsen. This is largely due to nearby farmers who scorch their fields post-harvest to rid them of stubble and prepare for the next year of plantation.

“The risk of transmission of infection will be higher,” said Arun Sharma, a professor at the University College of Medical Sciences in Delhi. He explained that this is because if there are more particles in the air, it makes it easier for the virus to travel from those who are infected. “The particle remains viable for longer.”

Since March time there’s been a growing mountain of evidence to suggest a link between air pollution and heightened COVID death rates. There was even a Harvard study which looked at COVID death rates across the world and found that they were much higher in more polluted areas.

K. Srinath Reddy, president of Public Health Foundation of India, said that “Covid-19 and air pollution are a dangerous combination,” and for good reason. Air pollution in general is an extremely dangerous condition to live under whilst in a state of coronavirus pandemic. Lung inflammation could make it more difficult for the body to fight off the virus.

World Air Quality Index stated that the 28 million residents of New Delhi hadn’t seen a single day of clean air since as early as September. Over 400,000 people in the city have already been diagnosed with the COVID virus. According to the WHO, an estimated 7 million people worldwide are killed annually by air pollution.

“Now if I get Covid, I have less of a margin,” said Meet Malhotra, a 58-year-old man living in New Delhi who had developed asthma during his childhood, due to the country’s poor air quality. “If your oxygen level goes under 90, you need hospitalization. What happens if you’re already at 92-93 because of air pollution?”

“Air pollution kills you slowly,” said the co-founder of Care for Air in Delhi, Jyoti Pande Lavakare. “Covid-19 just kills you faster.”

If this severely detrimental level of air quality keeps up as it is now, then New Delhi authorities will be forced put a cease to construction, introduce an odd-even scheme to cars and what roads they can use, as well as barring vehicles from entering the city. A measure such as this may help to dial down the pollution levels, if only for a short time. At the end of the day, New Delhi is still the most polluted city in the world in terms of air, and thus its struggles with COVID death rates will continue.

 

By Patryk Krych | © The World Daily 2020

 

 

Categories:
World, Environment
Tags:
AsiaIndiaDelhiAir PollutionClimate CrisisHealthCoronavirusCOVID-19