Linkage between Airborne Particulate Matter and Viral Pandemic COVID-19 in Bucharest.

The long-distance spreading and transport of airborne particulate matter (PM) of biogenic or chemical compounds, which are thought to be possible carriers of SARS-CoV-2 virions, can have a negative impact on the incidence and severity of COVID-19 viral disease. Considering the total Aerosol Optical Depth at 550 nm (AOD) as an atmospheric aerosol loading variable, inhalable fine PM with a diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5) or coarse PM with a diameter ≤10 µm (PM10) during 26 February 2020-31 March 2022, and COVID-19's five waves in Romania, the current study investigates the impact of outdoor PM on the COVID-19 pandemic in Bucharest city. Through descriptive statistics analysis applied to average daily time series in situ and satellite data of PM2.5, PM10, and climate parameters, this study found decreased trends of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations of 24.58% and 18.9%, respectively compared to the pre-pandemic period (2015-2019). Exposure to high levels of PM2.5 and PM10 particles was positively correlated with COVID-19 incidence and mortality. The derived average PM2.5/PM10 ratios during the entire pandemic period are relatively low (<0.44), indicating a dominance of coarse traffic-related particles' fraction. Significant reductions of the averaged AOD levels over Bucharest were recorded during the first and third waves of COVID-19 pandemic and their associated lockdowns (~28.2% and ~16.4%, respectively) compared to pre-pandemic period (2015-2019) average AOD levels. The findings of this research are important for decision-makers implementing COVID-19 safety controls and health measures during viral infections.

Assessing the impact of air pollution and climate seasonality on COVID-19 multiwaves in Madrid, Spain.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is still in progress, being under the fifth COVID-19 wave in Madrid, over more than one year, Spain experienced a four wave pattern. The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 pathogens in Madrid metropolitan region was investigated from an urban context associated with seasonal variability of climate and air pollution drivers. Based on descriptive statistics and regression methods of in-situ and geospatial daily time series data, this study provides a comparative analysis between COVID-19 waves incidence and mortality cases in Madrid under different air quality and climate conditions. During analyzed period 1 January 2020-1 July 2021, for each of the four COVID-19 waves in Madrid were recorded anomalous anticyclonic synoptic meteorological patterns in the mid-troposphere and favorable stability conditions for COVID-19 disease fast spreading. As airborne microbial temporal pattern is most affected by seasonal changes, this paper found: 1) a significant negative correlation of air temperature, Planetary Boundary Layer height, and surface solar irradiance with daily new COVID-19 incidence and deaths; 2) a similar mutual seasonality with climate variables of the first and the fourth COVID-waves from spring seasons of 2020 and 2021 years. Such information may help the health decision makers and public plan for the future.

Exploring the linkage between seasonality of environmental factors and COVID-19 waves in Madrid, Spain.

Like several countries, Spain experienced a multi wave pattern of COVID-19 pandemic over more than one year period, between spring 2020 and spring 2021. The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 pandemics is a multi-factorial process involving among other factors outdoor environmental variables and viral inactivation.This study aims to quantify the impact of climate and air pollution factors seasonality on incidence and severity of COVID-19 disease waves in Madrid metropolitan region in Spain. We employed descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation tests for analysis of daily in-situ and geospatial time-series of air quality and climate data to investigate the associations with COVID-19 incidence and lethality in Madrid under different synoptic meteorological patterns. During the analyzed period (1 January 2020-28 February 2021), with one month before each of three COVID-19 waves were recorded anomalous anticyclonic circulations in the mid-troposphere, with positive anomalies of geopotential heights at 500 mb and favorable stability conditions for SARS-CoV-2 fast diffusion. In addition, the results reveal that air temperature, Planetary Boundary Layer height, ground level ozone have a significant negative relationship with daily new COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths. The findings of this study provide useful information to the public health authorities and policymakers for optimizing interventions during pandemics.