It has been months since the covid-19 took over the world by storm. Some countries who managed to tackle the infection in early stage are now grapling with the second wave of the virus. Now with winter approaching, the scientist have warned that the pandemic may become even lethal due to poor air quality.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, again, warned the world against the novel virus after world witnessed all time high spike in daily cases.
“We are at a critical juncture in the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere. We are standing at an important stage of the pandemic. The situation in the northern part of the Earth is particularly bad.”He further added,” The next few months are going to be very tough and some countries are on a dangerous track. We urge leaders to take immediate action to prevent further unnecessary deaths, essential health services from collapsing, and schools shutting again. As I said it in February and I’m repeating it today: This is not a drill.”
Meanwhile, the scientists have said that air pollution during winters may hinder India’s fight against the covid-19 . As per the scientists, the long-term exposure in the air will certainly make people more vulnerable to lung infections.
Accoring to a research by Harvard University, one microgram per cubic metre in PM 2.5 is associated with an 8 per cent increase in the Covid-19 death rate.
“Given the current limited literature, the surge of PM2.5 level in Delhi may be associated with increased Covid-19 cases… Although the literature is relatively sparse at this stage,” Xiao Wu, corresponding author of the Harvard study, told PTI.
Currently, air quality in India, especially in northern region, is expected to deteriorate even more due to burning, festive fireworks and low wind speed conditions in the months of November and December.
