Residents of Chaque Ojanguanai are filled with smog; they report more than 70 cases of HAI and conjunctivitis

The Guanai City Council’s Health and Education Committee reported that these chacos filled residents and several surrounding communities with smoke, where more than 70 cases of acute respiratory infection (IRAS) and conjunctivitis were registered, Activa Radio reported.

Franz Calderón, the committee’s president, declared that they had been breathing carbon dioxide for almost a week, which led to mixed positions among parents on the initiative to close schools for a few days.

Supported by weather forecasts, the authorities expected rain this weekend, but this did not happen, which is why the Education Bureau met on Monday to hear health reports and analyze options for the continuity of school classes.

Guarnai City Councilor Franz Beni Calderon. Photo/Capture R. Active

The municipality noted that the community of Tres Arroyos was the most critical point, as more than 50 people were affected, including children and teenagers suffering from respiratory infections and conjunctivitis. He said 20 other children in the Sarkara community were suffering from sore throats and eye inflammation.

The councilor did not rule out that the number could rise in the coming days, so he urged community members to avoid indiscriminate burning of forests. Currently, the mayor’s office has deployed medical teams and assisted Army soldiers in quelling hot spots in the most critical communities.

He said this was an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of Guanai, forcing the municipality to go to La Paz to ask for help to provide food, medicine and water to the community where its people were suffering. Chuck O.