Rising air pollution levels spell trouble for coronavirus patients

A patient with bronchitis or asthma as well as Covid can potentially make the case much more severe, doctors say

As the dangerous mix of coronavirus and rising air pollution spells trouble for people, doctors are seeing almost a 30-40 per cent increase in the number of patients reporting with lung ailments, many of them still recovering from Covid-19.

“Pollution has not made it any easier, especially for patients who have not fully recovered from Covid since the lungs become weak and the immunity is low. About a month ago, we were getting only Covid patients and now there is a mix of other respiratory diseases,” said Manoj Goel, director, Pulmonology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram.  

A patient with bronchitis