Dear Editor,
So, Londoners should avoid strenuous activity because high levels of air-pollution (due to very still air) will be present on Friday (Report, The Guaridan, 13th Jan 2022, link below). Indeed, people with lung and heart problems should be especially careful.
That sounds like a good warning but it seems bizarre that this is not being taken up as a more regular and general point. And this not just in London!
What I also find very strange is that Covid measures (in the UK, here in Germany and around the world) are fixed on the topics of vaccination, social-distancing and mask-wearing. Yes, these are good measures but surely the long-term goal should be to increase general respiratory health so that the public can withstand not just Covid but also other illnesses too.
Indeed, over the past few years, climate-change has led to a string of abnormally hot, dry summers with air-movement being absent for long periods. Surely, especially in cities, toxic materials (e.g. soot, particulates and tyre- and brake- dust) lie for long periods being constantly whipped up by passing cars to then compromise our lungs and possibly also enter our blood-flow.
This must be a major contributing factor to respiratory illness ... so let's include it in the analysis!
Regards
