Assessment of the association between dust storms and COVID-19 infection rate in southwest Iran

Abstract

This study assesses a plausible correlation between a dust intrusion episode and a daily increase in COVID‑19 cases. A surge in COVID‑19 cases was observed a few days after a Middle East Dust (MED) event that peaked on 25ᵗʰ April 2020 in southwest Iran. To investigate potential causal factors for the spike in number of cases, cross‑correlations between daily combined aerosol optical depths (AODs) and confirmed cases were computed for Khuzestan, Iran.

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Broomandi Parya; Crape Byron; Jahanbakhshi Ali; Janatian Nasime; Nikfal Amirhossein; Tamjidi Mahsa; Kim Jong R.; Middleton Nick; Karaca Ferhat. (2022). Assessment of the association between dust storms and COVID-19 infection rate in southwest Iran. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18195-7

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