Changes in air pollution during COVID-19 lockdown in Spain: A multi-city study

COVID-19 and the Improvement of the Global Air Quality: The Bright Side of a Pandemic

The objective of this investigation is to study the impacts of the global response to COVID-19 on air pollution and air quality changes in major cities across the globe over the past few months. Air quality data (NO2, CO, PM2.5, and O3) were downloaded from the World Air Quality Index project for the January 2019–April 2020 period. Results show a significant reduction in the levels of 2020 NO2, CO, and PM2.5 compared to their levels in 2019. These reductions were as high as 63% (Wuhan, China), 61% (Lima, Peru), and 61% (Berlin, Germany), in NO2, CO, and PM2.5 levels, respectively. In contrast, 2020 O3 levels increased substantially, as high as 86% (Milan, Italy), in an apparent response to the decrease in titration by nitrogen monoxide and its derivatives. Significant differences in the weather conditions across the globe do not seem to impact this air quality improvement trend. Will this trend in the reduction in most air pollutants to unprecedented levels continue in the next few weeks or even months? The response to this and other questions will depend on the future global economic and environmental policies.

THE IMPACT OF LOCKDOWN ON PUBLIC HEALTH DURING THE FIRST WAVE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC: LESSONS LEARNED FOR DESIGNING EFFECTIVE CONTAINMENT MEASURES TO COPE WITH SECOND WAVE.. [DOI: 10.1101/2020.10.22.20217695]

What is hardly known in the studies of the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis is the impact of general lockdown during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic both public health and economic system. The main goal of this study is a comparative analysis of some European countries with a longer and shorter period of national lockdown during the first wave of COVID-19 from March to August 2020. Findings suggests that: a) countries with shorter period of lockdown have a variation of confirmed cases/population (%) higher than countries with longer period of lockdown; b) countries with shorter period of lockdown have average fatality rate (5.45%) lower than countries with longer period of lockdown (12.70%), whereas variation of fatality rate from August to March 2020 suggests a higher reduction in countries with longer period of lockdown (−1.9% vs 0.72%). However, Independent Samples Test and the Mann-Whitney test reveal that the effectiveness of longer period of lockdown versus shorter one on public health is not significant. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic associated with longer period of lockdown has a higher negative impact on economic growth with consequential social issues in countries. Results of the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on public health and economies of some leading countries in Europe, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, can provide vital information to design effective containment strategies in future waves of this pandemic to minimize the negative effects in society.