Worst smog in two days...Respiratory Health Care 'Emergency'

[Anchor]
The worst atmospheric conditions this winter have been continuing for two days.

As additional smog from China comes in today, fine dust is expected to worsen, so respiratory health care has turned on a red light.

Reporter Kim Min-kyung's report.

[Reporter]
The city center of Seoul from Namsan Mountain is all over the place as if it were covered by smoke.

The number of people wearing masks on the streets has increased significantly.

[Kim Hyun-gu / Mojeon-dong, Mungyeong-si, North Gyeongsang-do: I prepared all the masks, but I couldn't see at all when I came to Seoul, so I felt like I was taking an ID photo]

[Mae Hee-jun / Sungnae-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul: My eyes feel a little stiff, and my bronchial tubes feel worse.]

As more fine dust accumulated than the day before yesterday, the concentration of ultra fine dust in Eumseong, Chungbuk, reached 200μg per cubic meter yesterday,
Most regions in the country, including 164 Baekseok-eup in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do, and 148 Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, exceeded 100μg, more than four times higher than usual.

Fine dust could not escape because the temperature rose significantly from previous years and the air spread was not smooth.

High-rise buildings, which used to be clearly visible, are now buried in gray fine dust and appear blurry as if they were a distant background.

In the Seoul metropolitan area and South Chungcheong Province, where "high-concentration fine dust emergency reduction measures" were imposed for the first time this winter, a two-day system for public institutions was operated, and outdoor facilities such as outdoor skating rinks were suspended.

Air strikes of fine dust will continue until the weekend, with another smog from China coming in today.

[Nam Ji-eun / National Institute of Environmental Research Air Quality Integrated Forecast Center: High concentrations are expected to continue due to the atmospheric congestion that continues overnight, and high concentrations will continue due to the influx of fine dust from abroad in the morning of the 22nd.]

Amid a sharp increase in the number of respiratory diseases such as flu this winter, high concentration of fine dust has been added, signaling a red light for health care.

[Lim Young-wook / Professor of Preventive Medicine at Yonsei University School of Medicine] Since two or more different causes occur at the same time, the immune system decreases further, and the incidence of flu and cold can only be aggravated if the fine dust concentration increases..]

The elderly and children need to refrain from going out as much as possible.

If you don't ventilate because the outside air is bad, it's better to ventilate even for a short time and clean it with a wet mop or turn on the air purifier.

I'm YTN's Kim Min-kyung.

a photographer for
; Lee Hyun-oh

Design;Im Byul