Coronavirus Lockdown Could Save Lives Of 70 Lakh People Affected By Deadly Pollution

The coronavirus outbreak has brought our world to a halt. People are working from home, places with more number of cases have factories and industries shut down. People aren¡¯t stepping out of their homes, flights are cancelled.

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This has also surprisingly reduced the pollution levels across the planet. And now, researchers feel that this lockdown can save more lives who are affected by pollution than those threatened by contracting COVID-19.

Reported first by Forbes, this is according to Francois Gemenne, director of the Hugo Observatory, who said this in a debate on channel France24. He said, ¡°Strangely enough, I think the death toll of the coronavirus at the end of the day might be positive if you consider the deaths from atmospheric pollution.¡±

In case you didn¡¯t know, over 48,000 people die annually in France due to pollution (According to a report by Sante Publique France) and around a million in China, according to research by Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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According to WHO (World Health Organisation) around 7 million people across the world lose their lives due to pollution.

He further added, ¡°More than likely the number of lives that would be spared because of these confinement measures would be higher than the number of lives that would be lost because of the pandemic.¡±

And this is not wrong, considering what we saw in China, with the whole country in lockdown due to the outbreak. With just around two months of lockdown, China saw a staggering 100 million tonne drop in the pollution levels, according to a report by Carbon Brief -- even though temporary, the number is considerable.

He puts emphasis on the fact that the force people are putting to contain the novel coronavirus is so much more than their attempts to contain pollution levels where both are equally lethal.

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He said, ¡°These are quite fascinating times. What surprises me most is that the measures that we are ready to take to face this coronavirus are much more severe than the measures we would be ready to take to face climate change or atmospheric pollution,¡±

He further added, ¡°I think this is something that should question us: why are we so much more afraid of the coronavirus than we are of climate change or atmospheric pollution or other kinds of threats. What is so special about the coronavirus that we are ready to put the whole world on lockdown because of that?¡±

Definitely makes you think, doesn¡¯t it?