‘Tomorrow does not look like a good day’: Health warning issued as smoky haze blankets the state

Victorians have been warned to monitor air quality as smoke from bushfires in Gippsland and NSW blankets the state.

The EPA has forecast ‘very poor’ air quality in the Latrobe Valley this morning, and while the city is currently escaping the worst of the smoke, things are likely to take a turn for the worse later this week.

“In East Gippsland and in the north-east … we’ve got some really very poor air quality,” EPA’s Victorian Chief Environmental Scientist Dr Andrea Hinwood told 3AW Breakfast.

“That smoke is going to go somewhere, so we’re expecting that Melbourne and the Latrobe Valley will be impacted, possibly today, but particularly tomorrow.

“Tomorrow does not look like a good day.”

#AirQuality forecast for today: Moderate air quality is expected for Melbourne and Geelong. Very poor air quality is forecast for the Latrobe Valley. Smoky conditions expected. View your local air quality at EPA AirWatch: https://t.co/x3FPiMeu7N pic.twitter.com/mBrjQdgUgU

— EPA Victoria (@EPA_Victoria) December 22, 2019

Dr Hinwood urged Victorians who are sensitive to poor air quality to monitor the conditions closely.

“We’re asking everyone to actually keep aware, pay attention to air quality, particularly if their sensitive, and to look at the EPA’s AirWatch site,” she said.

“If you’ve got respiratory or cardiovascular illness you really need to follow a treatment plan.

“When it gets like those conditions on Friday, which were horrible, those people really need to stay out of it as much as possible.”

Conditions look set to ease in Melbourne for Christmas, but poor air quality is expected to continue for East Gippsland and the north-east of the state.

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