Repercussions of Covid-19 on Environment: Blessings or Curse

Unambiguously, Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is one of the deadliest pandemics with an approximate death toll of 4310970 people over more than 220 countries till now. To tackle this difficult situation, many countries have ascribed lockdown so that the aggression of this lethal disease somewhat lessens. Circumstantially, the Bangladeshi government imposed an overall lockdown during April-May 2020 and a nationwide shutdown from July 1 to August 10, 2021, by constricting people’s activity with complete or partial closure. A thorough study will show how air and water waste has been diminished during and after the Covid-19 lockdown. Explicitly, maintaining this prolonged success will be manifested the negative impact of Mask, PPE, sanitizing bottle pollution, the enhancement of plastic pollution and how can we restrain this before and after Covid-19. This restricted lockdown act exhibits a commendable influence on the entire environment of Bangladesh, especially Dhaka. According to the reports of the Department of Environment and Air Quality Monitoring Station of the U.S. Embassy, Dhaka; Air Quality Index (AQI) has improved during the lockdown from the city with the worst air quality. According to the DOE report, AQI of Dhaka was 164 on 1 May 2021 which is considered to be unhygienic according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Contrarily, on 1 July 2021 (during lockdown), the AQI was 115 and AQI is currently 106 (according to US Consulate) and which is in the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” range. According to EPA, 5 major pollutants are responsible for air pollution and they are PM_2.5, O₃, SO₂, CO and NO₂. DOE report distinguishes concentration of PM_2.5-24hr and CO-8hr on 18 February, 2021 was 224.28 µg/m³ and 2.25 ppm respectively but on 18 April, 2021 the concentration of PM_2.5-24hr and CO-8hr value was 94.12 µg/m³ and 1.51 ppm respectively. So, the pollutant concentration value has also decreased. The chronological study depicts that air quality has certainly improved due to the complete closure of industries and this lockdown is imposed due to Covid-19, creating a good impact on the environment. In a nutshell, medical equipment like masks, PPE, sanitizer bottles, and online package delivery waste are thrown here and there. For this reason, drain water is clogging but the overall impact is vast because the marine biodiversity entity is at stake. Masks and PPE do not dissolve and resulting in aquatic creature entanglement, violating the integrity of the ecosystem.