The air is cleaner with a third of the global population on lockdown, but South Africans who use solid fuel to cook and heat their homes could face a higher Covid-19 death rate.
Solid fuels, including charcoal and wood, produce high levels of solid and liquid particles, and a Harvard University study has found that higher levels of microscopic particles were associated with higher death rates from Covid-19.
Health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Saturday that chronic pulmonary disease, which is caused mainly by smoking but also by air pollution, was one of the underlying conditions in some of the seriously ill Covid-19 patients who had been hospitalised. During lockdown, said Von Holdt, individuals’ exposure to these pollutants could increase with “people spending longer hours at home, including in areas with unpaved roads with dust emitted from this source as well”.
“The burden falls most heavily on the black population. Low indoor air quality affects 24% of black households, 9% of coloured households and only 1% of white or Indian households.”
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