‘Hundreds of additional corona deaths due to poor air quality’

NOS News•today, 3:39 PM

People who lived in areas with poor air quality in the Netherlands were at greater risk of dying after a corona infection. They were also more likely to contract the virus and the corona symptoms were worse.

The dirty air may have caused four hundred to eight hundred additional corona deaths. This is the conclusion of the RIVM, GGD GHOR Netherlands and the universities of Utrecht and Wageningen after research.

The researchers studied corona infections, hospitalizations and deaths from the start of the pandemic in 2020 to the beginning of 2021, the start of the vaccination campaign. In the study, they compared regions with poor air quality with places where air quality is better. The researchers do not say which regions are involved. They do say that livestock farming and traffic in particular had an influence on the higher risk of corona and the chance of becoming seriously ill.

During the period studied, more than 760,000 people tested positive for corona, more than 31,000 people ended up in hospital with corona complaints and almost 22,500 patients died.

According to the researchers, if the air quality had been average in regions with poor air quality, there would have been 6,000 to 13,500 fewer infections. Also, 1,100 fewer people would have ended up in hospital and therefore four hundred to eight hundred fewer corona deaths.

The researchers emphasize that people do not contract corona due to poor air quality, because that happens through human contact. However, when people inhale more particulate matter, they can eventually suffer from lung complaints and cardiovascular disease. People who live in polluted air are also more susceptible to respiratory infections and may have poorer health.

The researchers conclude that clean air is important for public health. According to them, clean air cannot prevent a future epidemic that affects the respiratory tract, but it can reduce the effects.