Small rise in air pollution linked to 11% Covid-19 deaths

A new study has revealed that a tiny rise in people's long-term exposure to air pollution is connected with an 11 percent increase in Covid-19 deaths, reports Guardian.

The available data only allows correlations to be established and further work is needed to confirm the connections, but the researchers said the evidence was now strong enough that levels of dirty air must be considered a key factor in handling coronavirus outbreaks.

Another recent study suggested that 15% of all Covid-19 deaths around the world are attributable to dirty air.

The studies emphasized on urgent need to reduce levels of air pollution around the world, particularly in virus hotspots, so as to potentially reduce the number of deaths from the deadly virus.

The new analysis is based on research reported by the Guardian in April, which has now been reviewed by independent scientists and published in a prominent journal. 

The consideration of additional data and more factors that may also influence Covid-19 death rates refined the rise in deaths from 15% down to 11%.

Most scientists considered air pollution behind increasing the number and severity of Covid-19 cases. 

Breathing dirty air over years is already known to cause heart and lung disease, and these illnesses make coronavirus infections worse. Short-term exposure is also known to increase the risk of acute lung infections.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases has surpassed 48 million globally, with over 1.2 million fatalities and more than 31.7 million recoveries, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.