Assessment of Meteorological Variables and Air Pollution Affecting COVID-19 Cases in Urban Agglomerations: Evidence from China

Environmental health, COVID-19, and the syndemic: internal medicine facing the challenge

Internists are experts in complexity, and the COVID-19 pandemic is disclosing complex and unexpected interactions between communicable and non-communicable diseases, environmental factors, and socio-economic disparities. The medicine of complexity cannot be limited to facing comorbidities and to the clinical management of multifaceted diseases. Evidence indicates how climate change, pollution, demographic unbalance, and inequalities can affect the spreading and outcomes of COVID-19 in vulnerable communities. These elements cannot be neglected, and a wide view of public health aspects by a "one-health" approach is strongly and urgently recommended. According to World Health Organization, 35% of infectious diseases involving the lower respiratory tract depend on environmental factors, and infections from SARS-Cov-2 is not an exception. Furthermore, environmental pollution generates a large burden of non-communicable diseases and disabilities, increasing the individual vulnerability to COVID-19 and the chance for the resilience of large communities worldwide. In this field, the awareness of internists must increase, as privileged healthcare providers. They need to gain a comprehensive knowledge of elements characterizing COVID-19 as part of a syndemic. This is the case when pandemic events hit vulnerable populations suffering from the increasing burden of chronic diseases, disabilities, and social and economic inequalities. Mastering the interplay of such events requires a change in overall strategy, to adequately manage not only the SARS-CoV-2 infection but also the growing burden of non-communicable diseases by a "one health" approach. In this context, experts in internal medicine have the knowledge and skills to drive this change.

Investigating the Relationship between Air Pollutants and Meteorological Parameters Using Satellite Data over Bangladesh

Understanding of the relationship between air pollutants and meteorological parameters on the regional scale is a prerequisite for setting up air pollution prevention and control strategies; however, there is a lack of methodical investigations, particularly in the context of Bangladesh’s deficiency of information on air pollution. This study represents the first attempt to investigate the relationship between air pollutants (NO2, O3, SO2, and CO) and meteorological parameters over Bangladesh using satellite data (OMI and MOPITT) during the period from 2015 to 2020. Geographically weighted regression (GWR) modelling was utilized to assess the relationship between air pollutants and weather variables. The spatial representation and average values of geographically varying coefficients showed that the column densities of air pollutants were affected by the meteorological parameters. For example, NO2 was positively associated with temperature in most of the studied regions, with an average geographically varying coefficient value of 0.12 Dobson units (DU, 1 DU = 2.687 × 1016 molecules/cm2), indicating that NO2 concentrations increase by 0.12 DU/year with every unit increase in temperature. The sources of NO2 and SO2 in Dhaka were identified through emission inventory analysis, and transportation and industry emissions were the most significant influencing factors for NO2 and SO2, respectively. Temperature and pressure showed a higher degree of relationship with all four air pollutants compared with other parameters. The results and discussion presented in this study can be of benefit for policy makers in developing air pollution control strategies in Bangladesh.

Relationship between Meteorological and Air Quality Parameters and COVID-19 in Casablanca Region, Morocco

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between meteorological parameters, air quality and daily COVID-19 transmission in Morocco. We collected daily data of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Casablanca region, as well as meteorological parameters (average temperature, wind, relative humidity, precipitation, duration of insolation) and air quality parameters (CO, NO₂, 03, SO₂, PM10) during the period of 2 March 2020, to 31 December 2020. The General Additive Model (GAM) was used to assess the impact of these parameters on daily cases of COVID-19. A total of 172,746 confirmed cases were reported in the study period. Positive associations were observed between COVID-19 and wind above 20 m/s and humidity above 80%. However, temperatures above 25° were negatively associated with daily cases of COVID-19. PM10 and O₃ had a positive effect on the increase in the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases, while precipitation had a borderline effect below 25 mm and a negative effect above this value. The findings in this study suggest that significant associations exist between meteorological factors, air quality pollution (PM10) and the transmission of COVID-19. Our findings may help public health authorities better control the spread of COVID-19.