COVID-19 in New York state: Effects of demographics and air quality on infection and fatality

ABSTRACTThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a global impact that has been unevenly distributed amongst and, even within countries. Multiple demographic and environmental factors have been associated with the risk of COVID-19 spread and fatality, including age, gender, ethnicity, poverty, and air quality among others. However, specific contributions of these factors are yet to be understood. Here, we attempted to explain the variability in infection, death, and fatality rates by understanding the contributions of a few selected factors. We compared the incidence of COVID-19 in New York State (NYS) counties during the first wave of infection and analyzed how different demographic and environmental variables associate with the variation observed across the counties. We observed that the two important COVID-19 metrics of infection rates and death rates to be well correlated, and both metrics being highest in counties located near New York City, considered one of the epicenters of the infection in the US. In contrast, disease fatality was found to be highest in a different set of counties despite registering a low infection rate. To investigate this apparent discrepancy, we divided the counties into three clusters based on COVID-19 infection, death rate, or fatality, and compared the differences in the demographic and environmental variables such as ethnicity, age, population density, poverty, temperature, and air quality in each of these clusters. Furthermore, a regression model built on this data reveals PM2.5 and distance from the epicenter are significant risk factors for high infection rate, while disease fatality has a strong association with age and PM2.5. Our results demonstrate, for the NYS, distinct contributions of old age, PM2.5, ethnicity these factors to the overall COVID-19 burden and highlight the detrimental impact of poor air quality. These results could help design and direct location-specific control and mitigation strategies.

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Asthma Prevalence, Management, and Education in New York State Elementary Schools: A Survey of School Nurses

The Journal of School Nursing ◽

10.1177/10598405070230050501 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 267-275 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Christine Kielb ◽

Shao Lin ◽

Syni-an Hwang

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Elementary Schools ◽

Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

New York State ◽

Asthma Management ◽

School Nurses ◽

Urgent Care ◽

York State

A survey of school nurses was conducted in New York State elementary schools to assess asthma and asthma management in students. The survey contained questions about asthma morbidity, management and education, obstacles to management, and school indoor air quality. The reported prevalence of asthma among students was 8.5%. Of the students with asthma, 64% visited the health office, 26% were absent from school, 20% had physical limitations, and 7% needed urgent care. Only 28% had a written management plan at school, less than 25% of schools used asthma self-management programs, and obstacles to management included lack of time and funding. More than 25% rated school indoor air quality as “fair” or “poor.” Schools need to adopt key components of asthma management, and school nurses should be encouraged to work with others in the school setting to address indoor air quality problems that might be affecting health.

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The impacts of transported wildfire smoke aerosols on surface air quality in New York State: A case study in summer 2018

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117415 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 227 ◽

pp. 117415 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wei-Ting Hung ◽

Cheng-Hsuan (Sarah) Lu ◽

Bhupal Shrestha ◽

Hsiao-Chun Lin ◽

Chin-An Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Air Quality ◽

New York State ◽

York State ◽

Wildfire Smoke

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Short Term Air Quality Standards for Suspended Particulate Matter in New York State

Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association ◽

10.1080/00022470.1976.10470232 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 129-131

Author(s):

Harry H. Hovey ◽

Howard C. Jones ◽

William N. Stasiuk

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Suspended Particulate Matter ◽

New York State ◽

Quality Standards ◽

Short Term ◽

York State ◽

Air Quality Standards ◽

Suspended Particulate

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Characterization of intra-continental smoke transport and impact on New York State air quality using aerosol reanalysis and multi-platform observations

Atmospheric Pollution Research ◽

10.1016/j.apr.2021.01.021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 154-166

Author(s):

Chin-An Lin ◽

Cheng-Hsuan Lu ◽

Sheng-Po Chen ◽

Wei-Ting Hung ◽

Kevin L. Civerolo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Air Quality ◽

New York State ◽

York State ◽

Smoke Transport

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The impacts of transported wildfire smoke aerosols on surface air quality in New York State: A multi-year study using machine learning

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2021.118513 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 118513

Author(s):

Wei-Ting Hung ◽

Cheng-Hsuan (Sarah) Lu ◽

Stefano Alessandrini ◽

Rajesh Kumar ◽

Chin-An Lin

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

New York ◽

Air Quality ◽

New York State ◽

York State ◽

Wildfire Smoke

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Comparison of Indoor Air Quality Management Strategies Between the School and District Levels in New York State

Journal of School Health ◽

10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00677.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 82 (3) ◽

pp. 139-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Shao Lin ◽

Christine L. Kielb ◽

Amanda L. Reddy ◽

Bonnie R. Chapman ◽

Syni-An Hwang

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Air Quality ◽

Quality Management ◽

Indoor Air Quality ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Management Strategies ◽

New York State ◽

Air Quality Management ◽

York State

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Daily Simulation of Ozone and Fine Particulates over New York State: Findings and Challenges

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology ◽

10.1175/jam2520.1 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 46 (7) ◽

pp. 961-979 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

C. Hogrefe ◽

W. Hao ◽

K. Civerolo ◽

J.-Y. Ku ◽

G. Sistla ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

New York City ◽

Air Quality ◽

Metropolitan Area ◽

New York State ◽

Model Performance ◽

Concentration Gradients ◽

Seasonal Differences ◽

York State ◽

Urban Rural

Abstract This study investigates the potential utility of the application of a photochemical modeling system in providing simultaneous forecasts of ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) over New York State. To this end, daily simulations from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model for three extended time periods during 2004 and 2005 have been performed, and predictions were compared with observations of ozone and total and speciated PM2.5. Model performance for 8-h daily maximum O3 was found to be similar to other forecasting systems and to be better than that for the 24-h-averaged total PM2.5. Both pollutants exhibited no seasonal differences in model performance. CMAQ simulations successfully captured the urban–rural and seasonal differences evident in observed total and speciated PM2.5 concentrations. However, total PM2.5 mass was strongly overestimated in the New York City metropolitan area, and further analysis of speciated observations and model predictions showed that most of this overprediction stems from organic aerosols and crustal material. An analysis of hourly speciated data measured in Bronx County, New York, suggests that a combination of uncertainties in vertical mixing, magnitude, and temporal allocation of emissions and deposition processes are all possible contributors to this overprediction in the complex urban area. Categorical evaluation of CMAQ simulations in terms of exceeding two different threshold levels of the air quality index (AQI) again indicates better performance for ozone than PM2.5 and better performance for lower exceedance thresholds. In most regions of New York State, the routine air quality forecasts based on observed concentrations and expert judgment show slightly better agreement with the observed distributions of AQI categories than do CMAQ simulations. However, CMAQ shows skill similar to these routine forecasts in terms of capturing the AQI tendency, that is, in predicting changes in air quality conditions. Overall, the results presented in this study reveal that additional research and development is needed to improve CMAQ simulations of PM2.5 concentrations over New York State, especially for the New York City metropolitan area. On the other hand, because CMAQ simulations capture urban–rural concentration gradients and day-to-day fluctuations in observed air quality despite systematic overpredictions in some areas, it would be useful to develop tools that combine CMAQ’s predictive capability in terms of spatial concentration gradients and AQI tendencies with real-time observations of ambient pollutant levels to generate forecasts with higher temporal and spatial resolutions (e.g., county level) than those of techniques based exclusively on monitoring data.

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