The Public Health Ministry found that nearly 100,000 people had fallen ill from the smog shrouding eight provinces in the North and warned that more would be affected if the situation persists.
She said the number of patients at 19 hospitals in the eight provinces had been rising since January to March 6, and that in the past week 96,040 patients had showed up for treatment.
Heart disease had the highest ratio of 560 patients per 100,000 people followed by respiratory diseases at 501 patients per 100,000 people, she said. However, if the smog situation was prolonged or worsened, more people would need to seek treatment and therefore the ministry had instructed hospitals and medical staff to start getting prepared.
Urging the public to closely follow air-pollution reports on a daily basis, she also advised everyone to protect themselves from the fine particle dust by wearing a facemask or covering their nose and mouth with a wet cloth. The fine particles in air now exceeded the standard 120 micrograms per cubic metre and could cause breathing problems or lead to lung cancer in the long run.
