Incidence of COVID-19 and Connections with Air Pollution Exposure : Evidence from the Netherlands
The fast spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has resulted in the emergence of several hot-spots around the world. Several of these are located in areas associated with high levels of air pollution. This study investigates the...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/462481587756439003/Incidence-of-COVID-19-and-Connections-with-Air-Pollution-Exposure-Evidence-from-the-Netherlands http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33664 |
| Summary: | The fast spread of severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has resulted in the
emergence of several hot-spots around the world. Several of
these are located in areas associated with high levels of
air pollution. This study investigates the relationship
between exposure to particulate matter and COVID-19
incidence in 355 municipalities in the Netherlands. The
results show that atmospheric particulate matter with
diameter less than 2.5 is a highly significant predictor of
the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and related hospital
admissions. The estimates suggest that expected COVID-19
cases increase by nearly 100 percent when pollution
concentrations increase by 20 percent. The association
between air pollution and case incidence is robust in the
presence of data on health-related preconditions, proxies
for symptom severity, and demographic control variables. The
results are obtained with ground-measurements and
satellite-derived measures of atmospheric particulate matter
as well as COVID-19 data from alternative dates. The
findings call for further investigation into the association
between air pollution and SARS-CoV-2 infection risk. If
particulate matter plays a significant role in COVID-19
incidence, it has strong implications for the mitigation
strategies required to prevent spreading. |
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