The COVID- 19 epidemic is raging around the world. It has features of high outbreak rate, strong contagiousness, widespread, difficulty in prevention and control, and general susceptibility of the popula_x005ftion. It is one of the most serious infectious diseases facing human life and health in the past hundred years. It not only threatens the health and security of all mankind, but also poses unprecedented challenges to the economic development, public health system and social governance of all countries. The situation of epidemic prevention and control is grim, and environmental control should not be slacked off. This paper examines the impact of environmental governance on public health using provincial panel data from 2011 to 2018 as a research sample. The study found that environmental governance can significantly reduce the incidence of respiratory diseases, especially after the implementation of the new Environmental Protection Law. This paper provides microscopic evidence for the evaluation of the implementation effect of the new Environmental Protection Law from the perspective of public health, which not only enriches the research literature on environmental governance and public health, but also has important reference value for the government to deal with public health emergencies and further improve and formulate environmental policies.