Globally, there have been 19, 46, 08, 040 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 41, 70, 155 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 25 July 2021, a total of 36, 96, 135, 440 vaccine doses have been administered (WHO, 27th July 2021).
Though there is no direct evidence that climate change is influencing the spread of COVID-19, there have been certain evidence on how climate change alters human beings’ relation to other species on Earth and that matters to human health and risk for infections said, Dr Aaron.
During a conversation at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard University), Dr Aaron highlighted that as the planet heats up, animals big and small, on land and in the sea, are headed to the poles to get out of the heat. That means animals are coming into contact with other animals they normally wouldn’t, and that creates an opportunity for pathogens to get into new hosts.
It has also been observed that the risk of pandemics is aggravated as a result of the rise in root causes of climate change. Deforestation, which occurs mostly for agricultural purposes, is the largest cause of habitat loss worldwide. As a result of the loss of habitat, animals are forced to migrate and potentially contact other animals or people and share germs.
Further, degradation in air quality has also been found to be making people vulnerable and susceptible to respiratory infections. Recent research from Rachel Nethery, Xiauo Wu, Francesca Dominici at Harvard Chan has found that people who live in places with poor air quality are more likely to die from COVID-19even when accounting for other factors that may influence the risk of death such as pre-existing medical conditions, socioeconomic status, and access to healthcare.
The current scourge of Covid-19 highlights the importance of taking timely climate action to improve our health and reducing risks for infectious disease emergence is one of them.
(Excerpts taken from “Coronavirus, Climate Change, and the EnvironmentA Conversation on COVID-19 with Dr Aaron Bernstein, Director of Harvard Chan C-CHANGE)
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