Environmental factors and COVID-19: preliminary findings from China

Abstract:

It remains undetermined whether environmental factors play a role in the COVID-19 epidemic. In this talk, I will introduce some preliminary findings on the associations of temperature and air pollution with the transmission rate and case fatality rate of COVID-19 in Chinese cities. Generally, we found significant association of ambient nitrogen dioxide levels with basic reproduction number (R₀) of COVID-19 in China; in contrast, we did not find significant association of temperature or UV radiation with R₀ of COVID-19. Moreover, the fatality rate of COVID-19 was found to be associated with PM_2.5 and PM₁₀, both in Hubei Province and other cities outside Hubei Province in China.