Biostatisticians and public health researchers at Harvard U cited evidences linking high levels of particulate matters (PM2.5) to high COVID 19 deaths.
In a recent study conducted by researchers of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University, statistical links established through an analysis of 3.080 U.S. counties, presented evidence that high incidences of death in certain counties were linked to high levels of particulate matters (PM2.5) circulating in the air of the affected areas.
The findings were also supported by statistical data linking the COVID-19 death tolls to data that presented huge overlaps associated with other diseases caused by long-term exposure to the dangerous miniscule particulate matter.
The study is only one of the many global researches, mostly undertaken by health experts in Europe, aimed at presenting insights on how a lifetime of inhaling dirty air could make people more vulnerable to coronavirus diseases. In the U.S., Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the first to have conducted a nationwide study that presented statistical evidence linking PM2.5 pollution to high COVID-19 death rates.
Analysis of Biostatistics that Link COVID-19 Vulnerability to High Levels of Pollution
Harvard University’s public health researchers arrived at a conclusion that even the slightest rise in levels of long-term PM2.5 pollution that also takes into account account population density and smoking, can increase serious coronavirus-related outcomes
Professor Francesca Dominici, who teaches biostatistics at Harvard, and who led the study explained their analysis shows
“That in a U.S. county with high levels of PM2.5 pollution, a resident living in that county for decades, faces 15 percen increased risks of dying from COVID-19, when compared to someone who has lived in a region that has one unit less of PM2.5 pollution.”
The research paper cited as example Manhattan; stating that had it reduced its average PM2.5 pollution level even by just a single during the past 20 years, the N.Y. borough could have seen 248 fewer COVID-19 deaths at the point of outbreak.
The study was conducted before New York City became the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S.