Indirect Impacts of COVID-19 on the Environment: A Global Review

Abstract

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has plagued the Earth for the past two years and brought much controversy along with it. This report aims to analyze how the Covid-19 pandemic has had indirect effects on the environment. The onset of the pandemic has not only caused havoc disrupting routine average and businesses, but also claimed at least five million lives worldwide. This prompted the governments and the World Health Organization (WHO) to formulate measures to contain the transmission and the impact of the disease on the populations. Quarantine measures, movement restrictions, lockdowns and curfews, and travel bans are some of the most effective response methods that have helped the world contain the pandemic's spread. The adopted measures have had an indirect impact on the environment, opening the global community to numerous opportunities and threats. This report provides a critical analysis of how the Covid-19 pandemic has had indirect effects on the environment, examining how the response and containment measures have affected the environment. It focuses on air quality, water demand and quality, climate change, afforestation and deforestation, wildlife resurgence, littering, traffic congestion, noise reduction and changed human activities. It explores how the Covid-19 containment measures have had an environmental impact with a keen interest in the earlier areas.