Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked to Increased Risk of Contracting COVID-19 07/15/2021 | 05:53pm EDT Send by mail : Message : Required fields Reno, Nev., July 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wildfire smoke may greatly increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new research from the Center for Genomic Medicine at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Washoe County Health District (WCHD), and Renown Health (Renown) in Reno, Nev. In a study published earlier this week in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, the DRI-led research team set out to examine whether smoke from 2020 wildfires in the Western U.S. was associated with an increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections in Reno.