Pekanbaru Residents Affected By ARI Increase After Smoke

The atmosphere of the waiting room at the Simpang Baru Health Center, Pekanbaru City, Monday (2/10). In the statement of the Head of the Puskesmas, the number of ISPA patients increased. (ANTARA/Melsa)

PekanBARU - A resident of Pekanbaru City, Riau Province who was infected with Acute Respiratory Channel Infection (ARI) began to increase compared to last week. The head of the Simpang Baru Health Center, Hidayani, said that the number of patients affected by ARI was still monitored normally last week. However, on Monday it increased compared to Friday, Saturday, and last Sunday. "The number of ISPA patients does exist every day, sometimes (the number) goes up and sometimes goes down. Today there are more but it is not known whether the cause is smoke or not," he said, as quoted by Antara, Monday, October 2. It is known that the smog has hit Riau again, especially Pekanbaru City, for the past few days. This was caused by forest and land fires at several points such as Pelalawan and Indragiri Hilir, including from neighboring provinces. One of the residents, Siddiq, said that thick smog can make the eyes and nose sting if it is outside for too long. "The limited range of view is also very dangerous for motorists on the streets," he said. He hopes that there will be no more forest and land fires so that the air conditions will recover from the smog. "And Allah will send rain to cool the air on this yellow earth," he hoped. Head of the Riau Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) M Edy Afrizal said the smog that appeared in Pekanbaru City and around the last few days was smog. Pekanbaru was affected by forest and land fires in Jambi and South Sumatra Provinces. "In Jambi and South Sumatra provinces, forest and land fires continue to occur while the wind is heading towards Riau," said M Edy Afrizal. Judging from the official website of the Pekanbaru City Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency in recent days, it had occupied an unhealthy level and touched the yellow line. But this Monday air quality is starting to improve slightly with 52.3 µgram/m3.