Air Pollution Is Associated with COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality in Vienna, Austria

Abstract

We determined the impact of air pollution on COVID-19-related mortality and reported-case incidence, analyzing the correlation of infection case numbers and outcomes with previous-year air pollution data from the populations of 23 Viennese districts. Time at risk started in a district when the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed. High exposure levels were defined as living in a district with an average (year 2019) concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO ₂) and/or particulate matter (PM10) higher than the upper quartile (30 and 20 µg/m ³, respectively) of all districts. The total population of the individual districts was followed until diagnosis of or death from COVID-19, or until 21 April 2020, whichever came first. Cox proportional hazard regression was performed after controlling for percentage of population aged 65 and more, percentage of foreigners and of persons with a university degree, unemployment rate, and population density. PM10 and NO ₂ were significantly and positively associated with the risk of a COVID-19 diagnosis (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.44 and 1.16, respectively). NO ₂ was also significantly associated with death from COVID-19 (HR = 1.72). Even within a single city, higher levels of air pollution are associated with an adverse impact on COVID-19 risk.