A sustainable trend in COVID-19 research: An environmental perspective

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread across the globe producing hundreds of thousands of deaths, shutting down economies, closing borders and causing havoc on an unprecedented scale. Its potent effects have earned the attention of researchers in different fields worldwide. Among them, authors from different countries have published numerous research articles based on the environmental concepts of COVID-19. The environment is considered an essential receptor in the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is academically significant to look into publications to follow the pathway of hot topics of research and upcoming trends in studies. Reviewing the literature can therefore provide valuable information regarding the strengths and weaknesses in facing the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the environmental viewpoint. The present study categorizes the understanding caused by environmental and COVID-19-related published papers in the Scopus metadata from 2020 to 2021. VOSviewer is a promising bibliometric tool used to analyze the publications with keywords “COVID-19*” and “Environment.” Then, a narrative evaluation is utilized to delineate the most interesting research topics. Co-occurrence analysis is applied in this research, which further characterizes different thematic clusters. The published literature mainly focused on four central cluster environmental concepts: air pollution, epidemiology and virus transmission, water and wastewater, and environmental policy. It also reveals that environmental policy has gained worldwide interest, with the main keyword “management” and includes keywords like waste management, sustainability, governance, ecosystem, and climate change. Although these keywords could also appear in other environmental policy-related research studies, the importance of the COVID-19 pandemic requires such comprehensive research. The fourth cluster involves governance and management concerns encountered during the pandemic. Mapping the research topics in different clusters will pave the way for researchers to view future potential ideas and studies better. The scope for further research needs from the perspective of environmental concepts is reviewed and recommended, which can expand the vital role and value of environmental sciences in alerting, observing, and COVID-19 prediction for all four clusters. In other words, the research trend would shift from qualitative studies and perspectives to quantitative ones.

Water Rationing, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices and Social Distancing at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of Melaka, Malaysia

“…In fact, using contaminated water in any WASH practice, above all hand washings, defeats the very objective of sanitation and disease prevention [36,42]. Furthermore, several studies have reported the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater, where it can remain viable for a few days, subject to the environmental conditions [43][44][45][46][47][48].…”

Factors Affecting the Willingness to Pay for Environmental Improvements during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do

“…Multiple studies have been conducted on the cause and spread of COVID-19. Notably, from an environmental perspective, some studies have suggested that meteorological factors, including temperature, humidity, and precipitation, affect the transmission of COVID-19; others report that the rate of COVID-19 transmission varies depending on air quality, various pollutants, and water and soil characteristics (Han et al, 2023;Cheval et al, 2020;SanJuan-Reyes et al, 2021;Annlet et al, 2021;Vadiati et al, 2023;Rume and Islam, 2020;El Zowalaty et al, 2020). As the relationship between infectious diseases, including COVID-19, and environmental sectors is being studied, and more environmental research is needed for a sustainable society, it is time for central and local governments to pursue environmental measures and policies from a long-term perspective to improve the environment.…”