UT Dallas researchers, in collaboration with NASA, used air quality data and COVID 19 hospitalization rates to show correlation between the two.
Ignacio Segovia-Dominguez is not a medical professional, he's a computer scientist at UT Dallas, but his research is helping shed light on arguably the biggest medical issue of this decade; COVID-19.
"So the quality of the air actually affects the COVID-19 hospitalizations rate in many of the cases," Segovia-Dominguez said.
Segovia-Dominguez is lead author of a study done by UT Dallas researchers, in collaboration with NASA, to show the correlation between air quality and the severity of COVID-19 infections.
There are aerosol pollutants in the air we breathe. Some are naturally occurring, like dust. Others are manmade, like car exhaust. Researchers found higher aerosol rates correlated with high COVID-19 hospitalization rates.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
Though the research is numbers-driven, Segovia-Dominguez said the pandemic is personal.
"I arrived here one month before COVID-19 started," Segovia-Dominguez said. He moved to North Texas from Mexico. "Some of my colleagues in Mexico died, many of them from COVID-19, so that's very sad."
Segovia-Dominguez said some of the research findings were surprising.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"Unlike seasonal flu, the temperature did not seem to be heavily related with COVID-19," Segovia-Dominguez said. "Which was something we did not expect to see."
Segovia-Dominguez said researchers studied data from Texas, California, and Pennsylvania and found similar results.
"It makes you think, oh my gosh," Segovia-Dominguez said. "I should keep trying to push forward and make a difference."
