“The double whammy of poor air quality and exposure to the virus will certainly aggravate the existing public health crisis in India,” said Dr.Poornima Prabhakaran, Epidemiologist and Deputy Director of the Centre for Environmental Health, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).
“The health effects of poor air quality are well-known and are significantly worse in vulnerable populations including extremes of age, pregnant women and those with pre-existing comorbidities. Chronic exposure to deteriorating air quality every year results in compromised lung function in exposed populations. These individuals are therefore likely to be more vulnerable in a pandemic,” she explained.
(Quote/Excerpts from the Articles mentioned below)
Air pollution is rising rapidly in cities across South Asia (Photo by Alamy)
Read the full article titled ‘Severe air pollution can heighten Covid-19 risk in South Asia’ by Beth Walker, Soumya Sarkar, Zofeen Ebrahim, Ramesh Bhushal published in India Climate Dialogue.
Read the full report titled ‘Air pollution could worsen Covid-19 outbreak in South Asia’ by Soumya Sarkar, Zofeen Ebrahim and Ramesh Bhushal published in Third Pole.