Initial evidence of higher morbidity and mortality due to SARS-CoV-2 in regions with lower air quality

Riccardo Pansini; Davide Fornacca

For the time being, we renounced at performing a comparative study at a worldwide scale, due to significant differences in the coverage and compiling methodology of the COVID-19 infections and deaths among countries. Instead, we selected three countries particularly affected by the virus, and evaluated the potential correlation between air quality metrics and infections at the most detailed level of data available. Results for each country were analysed separately. China (including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) was chosen because of its large size and now advanced stage of its epidemic, well into the recovery phase. The second choice was Italy, at the time of writing the most heavily affected country of the world, just passed the peak of contagion. The area with the largest number of infections and deaths in Italy is the Po Valley, which is also the foremost place of polluted air in Europe 62 . The third country investigated was the conterminous U.S.A., which currently has the highest number of cases worldwide, yet is still at an early stage of the pandemic due to its later arrival as compared to Asia and Europe.