Kosovo in critical phase of air pollution, multiple risk for coronary patients

According to the Talmudologist at the Pulmology Clinic in Pristina, Besim Morina, combining air pollution and infection with Covid-19, increases the risk in the human organism.

This combination, when we have both air pollution and Coronavirus infection, normally multiples the risk. So Coronavius on one side causes a pneumonia or lung inflammation in many that burden breathing, but if air pollution adds to it, it can make it worse. There are still studies that connect this, but based on experience and empirical data, we can conclude that there is greater danger if there is air pollution and coditance”, Morina told EO.

In addition, Pollologian Morina said that air pollution often causes long - term damage, causing cardiovascular disease.

There are some harmful effects on human organism, first there are harmful levels in the short term, then there are harmful and long term effects. The short term is usually linked to the deterioration of chronic patients ' diseases. And when we have air pollution high levels these patients experience a deterioration of the disease, and long-term, air pollution affects people's health to produce new diseases. From respiratory diseases as well as cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, hypertension, and mountain diseases as well as”.

On the other hand, the measures taken to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, so by setting the police watch in some Kosovo municipalities, it has not brought about any positive change in air pollution.

The air quality measurement specialist from Kosovo's Hydrometeorology Institute, Shkumbin Shala, said that only during the period of quarantine deployment has it affected improving air quality.

“As far as the impact of measures on air quality we've highlighted earlier that there were impacts in the first period of the year, in March and April, and that is lowering the polluting parameters by 50%, parameters that mainly come from transportation. These parameters were enoxy and esodology, and other parameters we didn't notice any changes. As for the recent period of measures the Government of the Republic of Kosovo has taken, we do not see any major change. Values say they are similar compared to the same situation last year”, Shala has declared.

Furthermore, Shala stressed that we are in the critical phase of air pollution, adding that the raising of polluting parameters has started in November.

So let me first inform you that monitoring air quality is done by the Hydrometerological Institute or the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a total of 13 stations for monitoring air quality. We have entered the critical period in terms of air pollution, just in November or late October has started with the raising of polluting parameters, especially worth emphasising only two parameters that are pm10 and 2.5, in other parameters we have not exceeded. This is the current situation right now that we're talking”, he said.

“The air quality memo is done periodically, complete one year, and air status assessment becomes complete for a calendar year. We're not here at the end of this year to give a report or information on media and citizens to make an assessment or comparison between two years. Based on what we have seen so far, the situation remains similar. Significantly, we've had over 50 days of dusting 10m and 2.5, this year we haven't come up to that number or days of overcoming, without the whole year being finished, we can't tell if this was the cleanest air quality year or 2019”, he said.

According to the World Health Organization, in Kosovo about 3 thousand people die in one year, just from contaminated air.