Haze Affects Health of 55,422 People in Riau

Pekanbaru (Antara) - The number of people whose health has been affected by haze coming from forest fires in Riau province, increased to 55.4 thousand on Thursday from 43.8 thousand on Monday. "There was an increase of 5,831 people from the number on the previous day (Wednesday, 12/3)," Head of the Riau Health Office Zainal Arifin said here on Friday. The largest number or 48,390 people were infected with respiratory infection, and 11,798 of the affected people were residents of Pekanbaru, 8,033 residents of Rokan Hilir, and 6,136 of Bengkalis district, he said. The number of respiratory infection patients in Dumai, Rokan Hulu, Siak, Pelalawan and Indragiri Hulu was between 2,000 and 3,839 people. Some 2,481 people in Riau suffered from skin irritation, including 451 in Pekanbaru, 395 in Dumai, 267 in Bengkalis, and 220 in Rokan Hulu. The number of people suffering from asthma in Riau was 1,872, including 457 in Pekanbaru, and 247 in Dumai. At least 1,768 people suffered from eye irritation, including 348 in Rokan Hulu and 262 in Bengkalis. Some 911 people, including 197 in Bengkalis and 142 in Pekanbaru, suffered from pneumonia.(*)