Earlier studies have found evidence that air pollution can worsen the severity of covid-19 symptoms and hasten the spread of the novel coronavirus, although there is still uncertainty regarding how particles and the virus interact.
On its website, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that wildfire smoke can irritate lungs and “make you more prone to lung infections, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.”
A study published this year by scientists at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada found that the coronavirus positivity rate in Washoe County, Nev., increased significantly during periods of high wildfire smoke. The Harvard study sought to quantify the relationship across a wide range of counties in the American West.
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