Increased exposure to healthier air is a positive note among the many tragic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. As movement was restricted to prevent the spread of the disease, air quality in Colombo drastically improved leading to a 60% reduction in the average duration that people in Colombo were exposed to unhealthy air.

This Insight quantifies the improvements in air quality in Colombo during periods of Covid19 related restrictions. The Insight reveals the result of what was effectively a natural experiment – evaluating if the reduction of traffic could lead to improvements in air quality, and by how much?