Pekanbaru, Riau (Antara) - About 10,382 citizens in Riau Province suffer from acute respiratory infections (ISPA) due to haze that has hit the area since the past several weeks, the Riau Health Office's Environmental Health Section Chief Dewani said here on Monday. "The number is increasing from 6,321 people last week to 10,382 people until today. there is a chance that more people will be infected by this disease," she said. Among areas which have the most number of victims are Indragiri Hulu District (2,863 people), Dumai city (1,554 people), Bengkalis District (1,438 people) and Siak District (1,183 people). The National Disaster Management Agency has been distributing 25,000 face masks to the people to avoid further infection due to haze problem in their area. Meanwhile air quality index in Riau continues to improve in line with the declining number of forest and land fires following fire fighting operations. "Until the 10th day of operations to eradicate haze in Riau several indicators had shown a positive trend," The head of public relations and information data center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said. Based on the results of monitoring through NOAA satellites on June 22 the number of fires was still recorded at 92 while on June 24 it reached 265 but on June 29 only one was left over. This has resulted in the improvement of air quality in the region and visibility, he said. On June 20 he said the standard air pollution index in Duri reached 1,048 and in Dumai 688 signalling hazard.(*)

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