The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Environment in the Asia Pacific

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the consequences of political and ecological choices that have been made and continue to be made in the Asia Pacific. Over recent decades, the region’s rapid urbanization and industrialization have played a significant role in dynamic national economic development, a rapid rise in per capita income and the establishment of some of the world’s fastest-growing cities. Development has, however, come at a heavy price: planetary-health experts believe that a byproduct of human intrusion into remote wilderness areas has been a sharp uptick in environmental degradation and zoonotic diseases such COVID-19. Moreover, people living with poor air quality are more susceptible to this virus, and airborne particulate matter may even help to spread the virus. A study conducted by the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health has confirmed that there is a statistical correlation between high levels of air pollution and increased Covid-19 mortality rates.