Bengkulu Residents Wear Your Mask Outdoors, Smoke Fog Is Still Violent

Acting Head (Plt) Head of the Bengkulu City Health Office Joni Haryadi. ANTARA/Anggi Mayasari

BENGKULU - The Bengkulu City Health Office appealed to people in the area to wear masks when outdoors to anticipate the impact of smog on health. The appeal was conveyed so that the public would not be infected with acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) as a result of the smog in Bengkulu City. "We urge the public to maintain health and avoid smoke and use masks when outside the home," said Bengkulu City Health Office (Plt) Head Joni Haryadi in Bengkulu City, as reported by Antara, Tuesday, October 10. The public is also advised to drink water regularly and eat healthy and nutritious foods. "This is important because from January to August 2023 cases of ARI such as flu, cough, bronchitis, and others in Bengkulu City reached 11,769 cases," he said. Although the ISPA case in Bengkulu City is quite high, the public is asked not to worry because the disease can recover by itself within seven to 14 days. Meanwhile, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of Babai Island Climatology Station said the cloud fog that occurred in Bengkulu had mixed with smoke as a result of forest and land fires. Currently, the cloud fog in Bengkulu is thin but mixed with smoke because it has entered the medium cloud layer marked by a slightly reddish sun. "With the source of hotspots in the south, there can be smog fog," said Head of BMKG Data and Information at the Baai Island Climatology Station, Bengkulu Anang Anwar. From the results of the monitoring of the hotspots, he said, it was observed that there were three points in the southern part of Bengkulu, while the wind was moving from southeast to northwest.

"From the three hotspots, it is possible that there are smoke particles carried away, but they are in an intermediate cloud layer of about 3,000 feet with a relatively large number of particles causing the morning sun in Bengkulu City to turn reddish," he said.