Contrasting Iran's air quality improvement during COVID-19 with other global cities

Background and purpose In late 2019, a novel infectious disease (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan China, which turned into a global pandemic. Countries all over the world have implemented some sort of lockdown to slow down its infection and mitigate it. This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air quality during 1st January to 30th April 2020 compared to the same period in 2016-2019 in ten Iranian cities and four major cities in the world. Methods In this study, the required data were collected from reliable sites. Then, using SPSS and Excel software, the data were analyzed in two intervals before and after the corona pandemic outbreak. The results are provided within tables and charts. Results The current study showed the COVID-19 lockdown positively affected Iran's air quality. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the four-month mean air quality index (AQI) values in Tehran, Wuhan, Paris, and Rome were 76, 125, 55, and 60, respectively, which are 8 %, 22 %, 21 %, and 2 % lower than those during the corresponding period (83, 160, 70, and 61) from 2016 to 2019. Conclusions Although the outbreak of coronavirus has imposed devastating impacts on economy and health, it can have positive effects on air quality, according to the results.

Automated summary

The study found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on air quality in Iranian cities, with lower Air Quality Index values observed in cities such as Tehran, Wuhan, Paris, and Rome during the pandemic compared to previous years.