Spell of heavy smog in Indian capital raises fears for Covid patients
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
February 06, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 06, 2023
Spell of heavy smog in Indian capital raises fears for Covid patients

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
09 November, 2020, 05:45 pm
Last modified: 09 November, 2020, 05:57 pm

Related News

  • Indian police arrest 28 Bangladesh citizens for living illegally in Agra slum
  • Oil’s New Map: How India turns Russia crude into the west's fuel
  • Indian watchdog tells investors markets stable despite Adani rout
  • US FDA says India-made eye drop linked to some infections, blindness and one death
  • Adani crisis not going to be indicative of how well Indian financial markets governed: Finance minister

Spell of heavy smog in Indian capital raises fears for Covid patients

The tiny PM2.5 particles can cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases including lung cancer, and pose a particular risk for people with Covid-19

Reuters
09 November, 2020, 05:45 pm
Last modified: 09 November, 2020, 05:57 pm
Spell of heavy smog in Indian capital raises fears for Covid patients

Residents of the Indian capital are enduring one of the worst spells of air pollution in years, data released on Monday showed, raising the risks to city residents posed by the novel coronavirus, doctors said.

Pollution in New Delhi had almost disappeared earlier this year, when the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to stop the coronavirus. But the curbs have been lifted and the pollution, and the virus, are back with a vengeance.

Delhi's overall air quality index (AQI), which includes the concentration of PM2.5 particles as well as bigger pollutants, has stayed above 400, on a scale of 500, for five consecutive days, government data showed.

The tiny PM2.5 particles can cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases including lung cancer, and pose a particular risk for people with Covid-19.

R.V. Asokan, the honorary secretary-general of the Indian Medical Association that represents 350,000 doctors, told Reuters the air pollution made people more susceptible to coronavirus infection.

"The PM2.5 particles break the nasal passage barrier, weaken the inner lining of lungs, facilitating the spread of the coronavirus infection," Asokan said.

Doctors and researchers around the world have also reported a link between pollution and deaths in patients whose lungs are weakened by the novel coronavirus.

PM2.5 levels were 20 times the World Health Organization's safe limit on Monday, official data showed.

The five days with an AQI above the 400 level is the longest spell of such heavy pollution in November since 2016. November is usually the worst month for pollution across north India as farmers burn off stubble in their fields and the cooler weather can trap the pollution.

Covid-19 cases in major Indian cities Covid-19 cases in major Indian cities

Doctors in Delhi, which has reported a sharp increase in respiratory infections due to the pollution, are fearing a another jump after the Diwali festival on Sunday, which is celebrated with blizzards of smoky firecrackers, even though fireworks have been banned this year.

India's main environment court, the National Green Tribunal, forbid the sale and use of firecrackers in the city of 20 million people, and neighbouring cities, from Monday to Dec. 1, but some people will inevitably ignore the order.

The court also told authorities to contain air pollution from all sources "in view of potential of aggravation of Covid-19".

As well as the stubble burning, Delhi's pollution woes are compounded by factories, vehicles and rubbish burning.

The neighbouring state of Punjab has recorded at least 50,000 crop waste fires this year, unchanged from a year ago, despite a campaign to encourage farmers to use other methods to clear stubble.

Covid patients / India / fear / Raise

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A man walks past by a collapsed building after an earthquake in Malatya, Turkey February 6, 2023. Depo Photos via REUTERS
    Nearly 200 dead, many trapped under rubble as 7.9 magnitude quake rocks Turkey and Syria
  • LC issues lead to severe shortage of surgical equipment
    LC issues lead to severe shortage of surgical equipment
  • How govt is losing dividend from six listed firms
    How govt is losing dividend from six listed firms

MOST VIEWED

  • Tourists ride a tour bus in Hong Kong, China October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
    Hong Kong says 'hello' to woo back visitors after Covid
  • People wearing face masks following the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak are seen at Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, China July 23, 2020. Photo:Reuters
    Pandemic to paradise: Chinese tourists return to Bali after three years
  • People walk outside wearing masks during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Harlem area of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., February 10, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
    US to end Covid-19 emergency declarations on 11 May
  • A nurse prepares a shot for Jonathan Halter as the German embassy begins its roll out of BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for German expatriates at a Beijing United Family hospital in Beijing, China January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
    Covid remains a public health emergency, says WHO
  • FIKE PHOTO: Medical staff moves a patient into a fever clinic at a hospital, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Shanghai, China, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
    China approves two domestically developed Covid drugs
  • People walk with their luggage at a railway station during the annual Spring Festival travel rush ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Shanghai, China January 16, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Holiday trips within China surge after lifting of Covid curbs

Related News

  • Indian police arrest 28 Bangladesh citizens for living illegally in Agra slum
  • Oil’s New Map: How India turns Russia crude into the west's fuel
  • Indian watchdog tells investors markets stable despite Adani rout
  • US FDA says India-made eye drop linked to some infections, blindness and one death
  • Adani crisis not going to be indicative of how well Indian financial markets governed: Finance minister

Features

Photo: Collected

Get your partner a lovely present this Valentine's Day

1h | Brands
Pottery Wheel Craft Kit: A creative outlet for little hands

Pottery Wheel Craft Kit: A creative outlet for little hands

45m | Brands
Say it with Colours

Say it with Colours

1d | Mode
Photo: Courtesy

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Stage plays are going on in the digital age

Stage plays are going on in the digital age

5m | TBS Stories
Why does all the versatile roles go to Jisan?

Why does all the versatile roles go to Jisan?

10m | TBS Entertainment
ICB to withdraw Padma Bank Investment as return

ICB to withdraw Padma Bank Investment as return

17h | TBS Insight
Kiara Advani & Sidharth Malhotra's Wedding Update

Kiara Advani & Sidharth Malhotra's Wedding Update

17h | TBS Entertainment

Most Read

1
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

2
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

3
Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL
Banking

Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL

4
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

5
Photo: Collected
Startups

ShopUp secures $30m debt financing to boost expansion, supply chain

6
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]