Climate Change
Living Near Active Oil and Gas Wells May Have Increased Risk of Dying from COVID-19
Californians who lived near the highest-producing wells were more likely to die of COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, recent research shows.
On Feb. 6, 2020, a week after the World Health Organization declared the global coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency, the first Californian died of COVID-19 in San Jose. The next month, cases ballooned around the San Francisco Bay Area, prompting seven counties to issue shelter-in-place orders. By May, Los Angeles County had emerged as a hotspot, and researchers reported that Black and Latino residents were twice as likely to die of the disease than whites.
Living Near Active Oil and Gas Wells May Have Increased Risk of Dying from COVID-19