Scientific evidence suggests that Saharan dust intrusions in Southern Europe contribute to the worsening of multiple pathologies and increase the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants. However, few studies have examined whether Saharan dust intrusions influence the incidence and severity of COVID-19 cases. To address this question, in this study we carried out generalized linear models with Poisson link between incidence rates and daily hospital admissions and average daily concentrations of PM₁₀, NO₂, and O₃ in nine Spanish regions for the period from February 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. The models were adjusted by maximum daily temperature and average daily absolute humidity. Furthermore, we controlled for trend, seasonality, and the autoregressive nature of the series. The variable relating to Saharan dust intrusions was introduced using a dichotomous variable, NAF, averaged across daily lags in ranges of 0–7 days, 8–14 days, 14–21 days, and 22–28 days. The results obtained in this study suggest that chemical air pollutants, and especially NO₂, are related to the incidence and severity of COVID-19 in Spain. Furthermore, Saharan dust intrusions have an additional effect beyond what is attributable to the variation in air pollution; they are related, in different lags, to both the incidence and hospital admissions rates for COVID-19. These results serve to support public health measures that minimize population exposure on days with particulate matter advection from the Sahara.

科学证据表明，南欧的撒哈拉沙尘入侵会导致多种疾病恶化，并增加颗粒物 (PM) 和其他污染物的浓度。然而，很少有研究探讨撒哈拉沙尘入侵是否会影响 COVID-19 病例的发病率和严重程度。为了解决这个问题，在本研究中，我们在西班牙九个地区自 2020 年 2 月 1 日起的发病率和日入院率以及 PM ₁₀ 、 NO ₂和 O ₃的日均浓度之间建立了广义线性模型，该模型采用泊松关系至2020年12月31日。模型根据日最高气温和日平均绝对湿度进行调整。此外，我们还控制了该系列的趋势、季节性和自回归性质。与撒哈拉沙尘入侵相关的变量是使用二分变量 NAF 引入的，该变量在 0-7 天、8-14 天、14-21 天和 22-28 天范围内的日滞后平均值。本研究获得的结果表明，化学空气污染物，尤其是 NO ₂ ，​​与西班牙 COVID-19 的发病率和严重程度有关。此外，撒哈拉沙漠的沙尘入侵除了空气污染的变化之外还具有额外的影响；它们在不同的滞后时间内与 COVID-19 的发病率和住院率相关。这些结果有助于支持公共卫生措施，最大限度地减少人口在来自撒哈拉沙漠的颗粒物平流的日子里的暴露。