The origin of the novel human coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and its potential for harm increased face mask and medical waste in the environment, thereby necessitating the urgent prevention and control of the pandemic. The article estimates the face mask and medical waste generation in Asia during the pandemic to convince the waste management and scientific communities to find ways to address the negative impact that the waste disposal has on the environment. Standardisation, procedures, guidelines and strict implementation of medical waste management related to COVID-19, community habitats and public areas should be carefully considered to reduce pandemic risks in hospitals, as proper medical waste disposal effectively controls infection sources.

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This study investigated the effects of weather conditions, air pollutants, and the air quality index (AQI) on daily cases of COVID-19 in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR). In this research, we collected data from January 1 to March 30, 2020 (90 days). This study used secondary data of meteorological and air pollutant parameters obtained from the Pollution Control Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as well as daily confirmed COVID-19 case data in the BMR obtained from the official webpage of the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. We employed descriptive statistics, and Spearman and Kendall rank correlation tests were used to investigate the associations of weather variables, air pollutants, AQI with daily confirmed COVID-19 cases. Our findings indicate that CO, NO 2 , SO 2 , O 3 PM 10 , PM 2.5 , AQI have a significantly negative association with daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in the BMR, whereas meteorological parameters such as temperature, relative humidity (RH), absolute humidity (AH) and wind speed (WS) showed significant positive associations with daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in the BMR. Our study is a useful supplement to encourage regulatory bodies to promote environmental strategies, as air pollution regulation could be a sustainable policy for mitigating the harmful effects of air pollutants. Furthermore, this study provides new insights into the relationship between daily meteorological factors, AQI, and air pollutants and daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in the BMR. These data may provide useful information to the public health authorities and decision makers in Thailand, as well as to the World Health Organization (WHO), in order to set proper strategic aimed at reducing the impact of the COVID-19. Future studies concerning SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses should investigate the possibility of infectious droplet dispersion in indoor and outdoor air during and after the epidemic outbreak.

The entire globe is affected by the novel disease of coronavirus 2019 (COVID–19 or 2019–nCoV), which is formally recognised as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV–2). The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced this disease as a global pandemic. The presence of SARS-CoV–2 RNA in unprocessed wastewater has become a cause of worry due to these emerging pathogens in the process of wastewater treatment, as reported in the present study. This analysis intends to interpret the destiny, environmental factors and route of transmission of SARS–CoV–2, along with its eradication by treating the wastewater for controlling and preventing its further spread. Different recovery estimations of the virus have been depicted by the detection of SARS-CoV–2 RNA in wastewater through the viral concentration techniques. Most frequently used viral concentration techniques include polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation, ultrafiltration, electronegative membrane, and ultracentrifugation, after which the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV–2 RNA are done in wastewater samples through quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT–qPCR). The wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) holds the key responsibility of eliminating pathogens prior to the discharge of wastewater into surface water bodies. The removal of SARS–CoV–2 RNA at the treatment stage is dependent on the operations of wastewater treatment systems during the outbreak of the virus; particularly, in the urban and extensively populated regions. Efficient primary, secondary and tertiary methods of wastewater treatment and disinfection can reduce or inactivate SARS–CoV–2 RNA before being drained out. Nonetheless, further studies regarding COVID-19-related disinfectants, environment conditions and viral concentrations in each treatment procedure, implications on the environment and regular monitoring of transmission need to be done urgently. Hence, monitoring the SARS–CoV–2 RNA in samples of wastewater under the procedure of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) supplement the real-time data pertaining to the investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the community, regional and national levels.

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