A novel highly infectious disease (Corona virus disease-2019, COVID-19) has been an unprecedented global crisis. Following COVID-19 break out from Wuhan to the rest of the world, various countries adopted partial or total lockdowns to curb its progression or mitigate it. Lockdowns left drastic effects on health, physiological, social, economic and environmental fronts. This study reports on the impacts of COVID-19-induced human mobility restrictions on atmospheric levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter represented in absorbing aerosol index (AAI) in Kampala, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam cities of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in the East African Community. Using satellite data, it was found that NO2 emissions decreased by about 6.0% and 8.91% in Kampala and Nairobi whereas AAI decreased by about 1.91% in 2020. In Dar es Salaam, NO2 emissions increased by about 1.16% while the AAI remained almost constant in the same period. It is concluded that although there were substantial reductions in air pollution during 2020 (particularly the COVID-19 lockdown periods) in Kampala and Nairobi, these are not sustainable and deterioration of air quality after lifting of the restrictions has started to occur. Therefore, legislative actions need to be upheld to maintain air quality within the recommended levels.
Cite this paper
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