Short-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 in India: spatio-temporal analysis of relative risk from 20 metropolitan cities

The present study investigates the possible association between major air pollutants and COVID-19. We hypothesized that the post-lockdown surge in air pollution is the major cause of the increment in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The statistical results showed that pollutant concentrations of PM(2.5) (20%), PM(10)(24%), SO(2) (12%), and O(3) (19%) were raised. So, we attempted to quantify the relative risk due to all major air pollutants by fitting generalized additive models. The results suggest that the pollution concentration escalated the COVID-19 cases and deaths. The pooled study suggests that for every 10 μg/m3 increment in pollutant concentration, an increment of COVID-19 cases is observed for PM(2.5) (3%), PM(10) (1%), SO(2) (7.7%), and O(3) (10%). Similarly, there is an increment in COVID-19 deaths for PM(2.5) (2.8%), PM(10) (1%), SO(2) (4.5%), and O(3) (7.2%). The spatial maps of relative risk revealed the most vulnerable regions due to each pollutant, thus steering the policymakers to implement region-specific mitigation strategies. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41324-023-00512-6.