Ankit SIKARWAR, Institut national d’études démographiques (Ined), France
Ritu RANI, Institut national d’études démographiques (Ined), France
Geraldine DUTHE, Institut national d’études démographiques (Ined), France
Valerie GOLAZ, Institut national d’études démographiques (Ined), France
The world has witnessed a colossal death toll due to novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Scientific discussion is emerging that environmental factors may affect the COVID-19 susceptibility and mortality. Exposure to greenness is associated with improved immunity, enhanced respiratory functions and better mental health. Our objective was to check if better district-level greenness exposure is associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 mortality. The study is designed to use a combination of spatial data (gridded environmental and demographic data) and non-spatial data (on other confounding characteristics) with the use of remote sensing and Geographic Information System. Greenness exposure was estimated for 640 Indian districts using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from Oceansat-2 Ocean Color Monitor (OCM2) Global Area Coverage (GAC) sensor from January to March 2019. Cumulative COVID-19 death counts till 1 May 2021, were obtained from covid19india.org open data portal. To study the associations between COVID-19 deaths and the deciles of green space, we used a Negative Binomial Regression model adjusted for particulate matter (PM2.5), temperature, rainfall, population density, education, media exposure, proportion of elderly population, proportion of rural population and overcrowding. COVID-19 mortality was negatively associated with greenness quantiles and the strength of the association was increasing with the quantiles. The study also emphasizes the role of remotely sensed data to understand the linkages between environmental characteristics and COVID-19 risk and mortality.
Keywords: COVID-19|Green space|mortality|environment|remote sensing
A105165AS