Impact of lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic on annual effective dose equivalent values of natural gamma radiation.

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on values of annual effective dose equivalent of the natural gamma dose rate of Balod, Durg and Bemetara districts of Chhattisgarh (India). COVID-19 is a severe problem for many countries and to control and prevent the spread of this problem, the lockdown approach has been implemented in many countries, including India. In this lockdown situation, almost all people stay at home for 24 h. Due to the present status of COVID-19, the Indian government also fixed the 67 days lockdown and one day was already successfully done as Janta Curfew, which worked the same as a lockdown. The value of indoor gamma dose rates was reported to be higher in most places compared to the outdoor gamma dose rate, but in this pandemic situation, occupancy factor values are not applicable as recommended by UNSCEAR for calculation of annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE). Therefore, the present study introduces the new equations, which can measure the extra AEDE value during lockdown for adults, children and infants.