biostudies-literatureUnknown191Stieb DM<h4>Background</h4>Ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is associated with a wide range of acute and chronic health effects, including increased risk of respiratory infection. However, evidence specifically related to novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is limited.<h4>Methods</h4>COVID-19 case counts for 111 Canadian health regions were obtained from the COVID-19 Canada Open Data portal. Annual PM_2.5 data for 2000-2016 were estimated from a national exposure surface based on remote sensing, chemical transport modelling and ground observations, and minimum and maximum temperature data for 2000-2015 were based on a national interpolated surface derived from thin-plate smoothing splines. Population counts and sociodemographic data by health region were obtained from Environmental research110052https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7448873biostudies-literatureAn ecological analysis of long-term exposure to PM_2.5 and incidence of COVID-19 in Canadian health regions.PMC7448873Brook JRBurnett RTEvans GJStieb DMTo TMfalseAn ecological analysis of long-term exposure to PM_2.5 and incidence of COVID-19 in Canadian health regions.<h4>Background</h4>Ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is associated with a wide range of acute and chronic health effects, including increased risk of respiratory infection. However, evidence specifically related to novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is limited.<h4>Methods</h4>COVID-19 case counts for 111 Canadian health regions were obtained from the COVID-19 Canada Open Data portal. Annual PM_2.5 data for 2000-2016 were estimated from a national exposure surface based on remote sensing, chemical transport modelling and ground observations, and minimum and maximum temperature data for 2000-2015 were based on a national interpolated surface derived from thin-plate smoothing splines. Population counts and sociodemographic data by health region were obtained from 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z2020 Dec2025-04-04T13:26:05.616Z2020-08-31T07:02:51ZS-EPMC74488733286078010.1016/j.envres.2020.110052