The ambient ozone and COVID-19 transmissibility in China: A data-driven ecological study of 154 cities

J Infect. 2020 Sep;81(3):e9-e11. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2020.07.011. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

¹ School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Electronic address: jimran@connect.hku.hk.
² JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China.
³ School of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Electronic address: le-fei.han@connect.polyu.hk.
⁴ Department of Global Health, School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
⁵ JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Electronic address: zyang@cuhk.edu.hk.
⁶ School of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Electronic address: l.yang@polyu.edu.hk.
⁷ JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: maggiew@cuhk.edu.hk.
⁸ Department of Applied Mathematics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Electronic address: daihai.he@polyu.edu.hk.

Abstract

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We quantified the COVID-19 transmissibility by the basic reproductive number.
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The COVID-19 transmissibility could be negatively associated with ambient ozone.
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The daily 1-h maximum ozone might cover 7.6% of the transmissibility variability.
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It echoes a previous study of negative effects of ozone on the flu transmission.
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The ground-level ozone may be a “double-edged sword” to public health.

Keywords: Air pollution; COVID-19; China; Ozone; Reproduction number.