Health hazard scenarios in Italy after the COVID-19 outbreak: A methodological proposal

ABSTRACT

The health emergency (COVID-19) in Italy had a great impact mainly in the Northern part. The geographical and environmental similarities observed between this area and the Wuhan area in the Province of Hubei (China), led to the basic hypothesis of this paper, namely how the presence of atmospheric pollutants can generate stress on the health conditions of the population and thus determine the pre-conditions for the development of diseases of the respiratory system. The aim of the paper is to produce three different hazard scenarios in Italy using the AHP method (Spatial Analytical Hierarchy Process) and thirteen information levels grouped into classes respectively related to environmental, climatic and land management factors. © Società editrice il Mulino.