The rapid spread of Covid-19 is a global public health challenge. To prevent the escalation of its transmission, China locked down one-third of its cities and strictly restricted personal mobility and economic activities. Using timely and comprehensive air quality data in China, we show that these counter-Covid-19 measures led to a remarkable improvement in air quality. Within weeks, the Air Quality Index and PM2.5 concentrations were brought down by 25%. The effects are larger in colder, richer, and more industrialized cities. We estimate that such improvement would avert 24,000 to 36,000 premature deaths from air pollution on a monthly basis.
Lead investigator: |
Guojon He |
Affiliation: |
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology |
Primary topic: |
|
Region of data collection: |
|
Country of data collection |
|
Status of data collection |
|
Type of data being collected: |
|
Unit of real-time data collection |
|
Start date |
1/2020 |
End date |
3/2020 |
Frequency |
