BANGKOK, Thailand – Nearly 200,000 folks in Thailand have been admitted to hospital due to air air pollution this week, officers have mentioned, with Bangkok shrouded in a dangerous haze.
The Thai capital, residence to an estimated 11 million folks and one of many world’s hottest vacationer locations, has been blanketed for days by an disagreeable yellow-grey combine of car fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from agricultural burning.
More than 1.3 million folks have fallen sick within the kingdom because the begin of the yr on account of air air pollution, with almost 200,000 admitted to hospital this week alone, in keeping with the general public well being ministry.
Kriangkrai Namthaisong, a physician on the ministry, on Wednesday urged youngsters and pregnant ladies to remain indoors.
Anyone going outdoors ought to put on a high-quality N95 anti-pollution masks, he added.
During one other air pollution peak in late January and early February, metropolis authorities urged folks to work at home.
A spokesman for Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt — elected final yr with guarantees to enhance the town’s atmosphere — mentioned they might not hesitate to difficulty one other comparable order if the scenario bought worse.
Aekvarunyoo Amrapala instructed AFP that nurseries run by the town had arrange particular “no dust rooms” with air purifiers to guard younger youngsters, in addition to checkpoints to watch automobile emissions.
The public well being ministry mentioned 50 districts in Bangkok on Wednesday recorded unsafe ranges of essentially the most harmful PM2.5 particles — so tiny they’ll enter the bloodstream — whereas on Thursday they remained properly above World Health Organization tips.
PM2.5 ranges have been above protected limits for many of Bangkok for the previous three days, in keeping with the federal government’s air pollution management division.
The scenario was worse within the northern metropolis of Chiang Mai, in an agricultural area the place farmers burn crop stubble right now of yr.
Around noon (0500 GMT), the favored vacationer vacation spot was ranked the third-most polluted metropolis on the earth by monitoring agency IQAir. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
