The Government of Honduras announced this Sunday that the public employees of Tegucigalpa, the capital, will continue working from home from this Monday until Friday; while the students will return to face-to-face classes this Monday, despite the fact that the country keeps all alerts active for the high levels of air toxicity.
“This measure is applied due to the high levels of pollution, the lack of rain and the alarming heat wave that the country is going through, in particular Tegucigalpa,” says a statement from the institution headed by Vaquero.
He also specified that the emergency institutions andSecurity does not apply this provision.
In a statement, the Honduran institution indicated that sports and outdoor activities “are temporarily suspended” and recommended the use of masks in schools.
Doctors have asked the population to reduce direct exposure to airas much as possible, as well as avoiding outdoor exercise because the dense layer of smoke that covers the city is harmful.
This Sunday, the Secretariat of Risk Management and National Contingencies of Honduras extended the red alert (emergency) and the yellow alert (surveillance) to four of the country’s 18 departments, due to air pollution.
The red alert will be in effect indefinitely and covers the departments (provinces) of Francisco Morazán, where Tegucigalpa is located; Comayagua, Cortés and Yoro, center and north of the country, the institution said in a statement.
The measure is due to “the high levels of atmospheric pollution, poor air quality caused by the dense layer of smoke and which have increased with high temperaturessome forest fires and the absence of rain.
The civil protection organization maintains a yellow alert in the departments of Colón (Caribbean), Olancho and El Paraíso (east); Copán, Ocotepeque, Lempira, Intibucá (west); La Paz (center); Choluteca and Valley (south). The rest of the country remains on green alert, for prevention.
“The three levels of alerts are made because pollution causes negative effects on the health of the population, especially in children, older adults and people with underlying diseases, where preventive measures must continue,” explained the Secretary.
According to authorities, the smoke will continue to affect until “there is a change in the wind pattern, the atmosphere over the region is less stable and c“The rainy season begins.”
EFE
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