COVID-19 Mortality and Air Pollution: A Spatial Analysis of Particulate Matter Concentration and Association with COVID-19 Mortality.

Keywords: COVID-19, Particulate Matter, Mortality
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 21

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel virus that emerged in Wuhan, China in December of 2019. The virus caused the disease, commonly known as COVID-19, and since its emergence has infected over 195 million individuals globally, and taken the lives of more than 4 million in the same time span. As of July 28, 2021, the United States has experienced the highest number of cases, 34,644,238, with India just behind, 31,484,605, with cases still on the rise. Primary research on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 was hyper focused on understanding the biomolecular composition of the virus. This research has been used to develop multiple vaccines with great efficacy and antiviral treatment for the disease. The development of biomedical interventions has been crucial to combating this pandemic, now we need to address the environmental confounding variables that have exacerbated the pandemic. In this research study, we conducted a spatial analysis of particulate matter (PM) concentration and its association with COVID-19 mortality in the United States. Results of this study demonstrate a significant positive correlation between PM concentration levels and COVID-19 mortality in the United States, however, it does not demonstrate a causal relationship. These results are consistent with similar studies in Italy and China and where high COVID-19 cases and corresponding deaths were exhibited. Furthermore, maps of the data demonstrate clustering of significant data points which encourage further investigation into the social determinants of health and their impact on the pandemic.