Two mechanisms for accelerated diffusion of COVID-19 outbreaks in regions with high intensity of population and polluting industrialization: the air pollution-to-human and human-to-human transmission dynamics

Mario Coccia

is the (which was not peer-reviewed) The copyright holder for this preprint . https: //doi.org/10.1101 //doi.org/10. /2020 36 | P a g e Coccia M. (2020) Two mechanisms for accelerated diffusion of COVID-19 outbreaks in regions with high intensity of population and polluting industrialization: the air pollution-to-human and human-to-human transmission dynamics CocciaLab Working Paper 2020 -No. 48B/2020 emissions of nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere is the combustion of fossil fuels from stationary sources (heating, power generation) and motor vehicles. In ambient conditions, nitric oxide is rapidly transformed into nitrogen dioxide by atmospheric oxidants such as ozone (cf., . In Italy, the first COVID-19 outbreak has been found in Codogno, a small city of the Lodi area, close to Milan. Although local lockdown as red zone on February 25, 2020, the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection showed that concentrations of PM10 beyond the limits in almost all of Lombardy region including the red zone (i.e., 82 mm/m 3 of air measured in Codogno). The day after, February 26, 2020, the mistral wind and then the north wind swept the entire Po valley, bringing to Lombardy region a substantial reduction in the average daily concentrations of PM10, which almost everywhere were lower than 50 micrograms of particulate matter/m 3 of air.