How greenspaces are used, and not how much is available, is a critical pathway connecting greenspaces to resilience against COVID-19 infection and severity

Abstract There is abundant evidence of the benefits of greenspaces to humans in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the mechanisms of these benefits remain elusive. Following a cross-sectional study design, we fill this gap by collecting relevant data on 1367 residents across South Africa for the period March to April 2023. Then, we fitted structural equation models to determine the link between greenspaces and COVID-19 health outcomes. We found that infection rates ( β =−0.172 ± 0.06; p = 0.002) and severity ( β =−0.393 ± 0.16; p = 0.013) are significantly lower among people who use greenspaces for physical activity, suggesting that the level of greenness exposure is an important pathway connecting greenness to human resilience. We also found that age ( β = −0.11 ± 0.05; p = 0.013), education level ( β = 0.1 ± 0.05; p = 0.039) and people’s perceptions of greenspaces ( β = 1.05 ± 0.09; p < 0.001) rather than greenspaces provision predict greenness exposure. Finally, we found that people with high income are more likely to be infected ( β = 1.07 ± 0.15; p < 0.001) and hospitalised ( β = 0.74 ± 0.35; p = 0.035) alongside people with comorbidity ( β = 1.51 ± 0.45; p < 0.001), whilst younger people ( β =−2.16 ± 0.62; p < 0.001) and people with higher education level ( β = 2.21 ± 0.51; p < 0.001) are more likely to be admitted to intensive care unit. Overall, our study identifies the pathways linking greenspaces to human resilience against COVID-19.