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Lockdowns and reduction of economic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic improved air quality in Alexandria, Egypt

2020; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 193; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/s10661-020-08780-7

1573-2959

Mostafa M. El‐Sheekh, Ibrahim A. Hassan,

COVID-19 epidemiological studies

Parallel reductions in atmospheric aerosols (particulate matter (PM)) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) accompanied the drastic measures that were adopted to limit the spread of COVID-19. The results of this preliminary study conducted in northern Egypt revealed that ambient PM10, PM2.5, and NO2 levels decreased by 22.8%, 29.3%, and 25.9%, respectively, after the lockdown started on March 13, 2020. These reductions in concentrations significantly (p ˂ 0.01) correlated with the decrease in transportation and industrial and other economic activities. Furthermore, PM and NO2 concentrations radically reduced during the full lockdown on Easter, Ramadan, and Eid Al-Fitr. The findings of this study will help the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health regulators to combat COVID-19 in the world. This study is part of an ongoing research related to the current pandemic.