id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
cord-254758-ubw0chrf	Newbold, Stephen C.	Effects of Physical Distancing to Control COVID-19 on Public Health, the Economy, and the Environment	2020-08-04		.txt	text/plain	10214	474	50	Using recent estimates of the association between airborne particulate matter and the virulence of COVID-19, we find that accounting for air pollution co-benefits can significantly increase the intensity and duration of the optimal physical distancing policy. We develop an integrated epidemiological-economic model that includes a standard model of disease transmission, the monetized value of COVID-19 deaths averted and lives saved from exposure to air pollution, and the short-and long-run costs of physical distancing. Initial results of these studies suggest that airborne particulate matter could have a significant positive mediating influence on COVID-19 fatalities, so we use our model to explore the potential effect of this link on the optimal physical distancing policy. To examine the potential importance of such a link for the optimal physical distancing policy, we include an interaction between air pollution and the COVID-19 case fatality ratio, which appears in Eq.	./cache/cord-254758-ubw0chrf.txt	./txt/cord-254758-ubw0chrf.txt