*ISLAMABAD – **Coronavirus may spread through air pollution, reveals latestresearch by Italian scientists.*
*Air pollution could be increasing the spread of the novel coronavirus.Scientists in Italy claim they have found the virus on air pollutionparticles.*
They were studying whether this mode of transmission allows the virus totravel longer distances, resulting in a higher number of people contractingit, *The Guardian* reported Friday.
The team of scientists found a distinct COVID-19 gene on air pollutionsamples taken from an urban site and an industrial site in Italy’s Bergamoprovince.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed and the researchers could notdetermine if the virus could survive on pollution particles long enough tocause infection.
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But previous studies have also said that air pollution could be worseningthe pandemic. If this finding is valid it means the virus could travelfarther by air than previously assumed. Currently, the virus is said tospread through air droplets from infected people. The virus-laden dropletscan travel up to two metres.
It would also explain the high rate of infection in heavily pollutednorthern Italy. Italy has been one of the countries that wereworst-affected by the pandemic with over 192,000 cases and around 26,000deaths.
