Pollution can lead to more severe cases of Covid: AIIMS director

While Delhi and many other parts of the country is coming to terms with the increase in air pollution after Diwali, the director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has said that it may have an adverse effect on the number of Covid cases.

Dr Randeep Guleria, director, AIIMS, told ANI that apart from people with respiratory diseases, the increased level of pollution can lead to more severe cases of Covid-19.

He said, “Pollution has a huge effect on respiratory health especially on people with lung diseases, asthma as their disease worsens. Pollution can also lead to more severe cases of Covid. Should wear mask as it'll help in protection from both Covid and pollution.”

At 6 p.m. in Delhi, PM2.5 was 435 micrograms per cubic meter. By Saturday morning, its magnitude may decline but values will remain at the edge of very poor and severe, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said.

The contribution of biomass burning in PM2.5 concentration is likely to increase to approximately 25 per cent on November 6 as winds are favourable for transportation of pollutants, according to the Air quality Forecast bulletin of India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The air quality is likely to improve further on November 6 and November 7 owing to strong winds and remain in ‘Very Poor’ category. The contribution of biomass burning is also likely to increase as winds will be westerly from Friday onwards. The Outlook for subsequent 5 Days: The air quality is likely to start improving marginally from November 6 owing to strong winds. PM2.5 is likely to be the predominant pollutant.

The predominant surface wind is likely to be coming from West-Northwest directions of Delhi with wind speed of 10-20 kmph, partly cloudy sky, mist/shallow fog in the morning and strong surface winds (speed 25-35 kmph) during the day on November 6 and November 7.

On the other hand, Delhi has reported 32 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. No death was recorded for the fourteenth consecutive day due to the disease. The positivity rate stood at 0.14 % in the last 24 hours.

As per the Delhi Health Department’s bulletin, the cumulative caseload has escalated to 14,40,035 including 328 active cases.

The overall recoveries stand at 14,14,616 with 7 more discharges in the last 24 hours. The death toll has remained at 25,091.

The case fatality rate stands at 1.74 per cent and the cumulative positivity rate at 4.86 per cent.The bulletin said that 22,603 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

(With inputs from ANI and IANS)