Air Pollution Is Associated with COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality in Vienna, Austria

Hans-Peter Hutter, Michael Poteser, Hanns Moshammer, Kathrin Lemmerer, Monika Mayer, Lisbeth Weitensfelder, Peter Wallner and Michael Kundi
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Hans-Peter Hutter: Center for Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Michael Poteser: Center for Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Hanns Moshammer: Center for Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Kathrin Lemmerer: Center for Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Monika Mayer: Institute of Meteorology and Climatology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Lisbeth Weitensfelder: Center for Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Peter Wallner: Center for Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Michael Kundi: Center for Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-11

Abstract: We determined the impact of air pollution on COVID-19-related mortality and reported-case incidence, analyzing the correlation of infection case numbers and outcomes with previous-year air pollution data from the populations of 23 Viennese districts. Time at risk started in a district when the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed. High exposure levels were defined as living in a district with an average (year 2019) concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and/or particulate matter (PM10) higher than the upper quartile (30 and 20 µg/m 3 , respectively) of all districts. The total population of the individual districts was followed until diagnosis of or death from COVID-19, or until 21 April 2020, whichever came first. Cox proportional hazard regression was performed after controlling for percentage of population aged 65 and more, percentage of foreigners and of persons with a university degree, unemployment rate, and population density. PM10 and NO 2 were significantly and positively associated with the risk of a COVID-19 diagnosis (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.44 and 1.16, respectively). NO 2 was also significantly associated with death from COVID-19 (HR = 1.72). Even within a single city, higher levels of air pollution are associated with an adverse impact on COVID-19 risk.

Keywords: COVID-19; PM10; NO 2; spatial air pollution differences; incidence; mortality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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