Background: Several countries have documented the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollutants and epidemiological indicators of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as incidence and mortality. This study aims to explore the association between air pollutants, such as PM 2.5 and PM 10 , and the incidence and mortality rates of COVID-19 during 2020. Methods: The incidence and mortality rates were estimated using the COVID-19 cases and deaths from the Chilean Ministry of Science, and the population size was obtained from the Chilean Institute of Statistics. A chemistry transport model was used to estimate the annual mean surface concentration of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in a period before the current pandemic. Negative binomial regressions were used to associate the epidemiological information with pollutant concentrations while considering demographic and social confounders. Results: For each microgram per cubic meter, the incidence rate increased by 1.3% regarding PM 2.5 and 0.9% regarding PM 10 . There was no statistically significant relationship between the COVID-19 mortality rate and PM 2.5 or PM 10 . Conclusions: The adjusted regression models showed that the COVID-19 incidence rate was significantly associated with chronic exposure to PM 2.5 and PM 10 , even after adjusting for other variables.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Air pollution, Climate, South America, environmental indicators, 【초록키워드】 pandemic, Mortality, COVID-19 pandemic, Regression model, Statistics, death, incidence rate, epidemiological, mortality rate, incidence, information, association, Concentration, COVID-19 mortality, Regression, Science, Transport, COVID-19 incidence, COVID-19 case, confounders, negative, country, other variables, was used, significantly, adjusted, were used, statistically significant, was obtained, Chilean, 【제목키워드】 exposure to, matter, Particulate, Rate,