Wildfire smoke could raise risk of severe Covid and death, study finds

Wildfire smoke could raise risk of severe Covid and death, study finds

“About two weeks after we had these smoke exposure events, we saw an uptick in the Covid-19 incidents, even in a low-density pollution area, that were beyond what you would have predicted normally. And then as the smoke dissipated, the peak went back down,” said Michael Kleinman, a co-director of the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory [and adjunct professor of Environmental & Occupational Health] at the University of California, Irvine, who co-wrote the Orange County study. “This happened three times with three different smoke exposures.”