Governor Hochul: "I would call this, what we're experiencing right now with the sub-standard air quality, a crisis. It is also a dangerous situation. We've been monitoring this for well over a week since the fires started in Eastern Canada. And I would say over the last 48 hours, it has gotten significantly worse."
Hochul: "And the bottom line is this: If you can stay indoors, stay indoors. This is detrimental to people's health. In New York State, we have over 1.4 million people who already have asthma. And when the air quality is bad, it's a significant risk for these individuals as well as seniors, children."
I want to first of all give a brief public health update on what is an emergency situation, an emergency crisis. I would call this, what we're experiencing right now with the sub-standard air quality, a crisis. It is also a dangerous situation. We've been monitoring this for well over a week since the fires started in Eastern Canada. And I would say over the last 48 hours, it has gotten significantly worse.
The haze and the smoke from the fires, you could feel it even sitting indoors here, it's clogging much of our air. In fact, it's almost impossible to see the sunset or see the sky, and it's something I'm a little more accustomed to from Western New York when every day looked like this - you know, the Bethlehem Steel Plant. But we have not seen anything like this since the 1970s.
So, New York City and Syracuse were among the worst places on the entire planet yesterday. And normally our air quality index is around 50. In New York State over the last 24 hours, and we just got these numbers in, the index hit - my numbers this morning were 200. We have updated information, it's now 400. The index hit 400 in parts of our state. That's an 800 percent increase.
So the DEC has been issuing air quality health advisories in nearly every region. The air quality index is unhealthy in New York City Metropolitan Area, Central New York, and Eastern Lake Ontario. It's also unhealthy for sensitive groups in Western New York, the Hudson Valley, and Long Island.
And earlier today, after consulting with the Department of Health, we recommended that all outdoor school activities be postponed. And we've been in touch with the school leaders in Rochester, Syracuse, and New York City, and I commend them for canceling outdoor activities today. But we're also recommending that school districts in the unhealthy areas also cancel activities as well.
And the bottom line is this: If you can stay indoors, stay indoors. This is detrimental to people's health. In New York State, we have over 1.4 million people who already have asthma. And when the air quality is bad, it's a significant risk for these individuals as well as seniors, children. And you think about all the people that may be still experiencing the effects of COVID, long COVID, you know, compromising their respiratory system. And New York was the epicenter of the COVID pandemic, and this is an issue that is affecting people's ability to breathe.
So we're encouraging people to check the air quality in their zip code. They can go to airnow.gov. And again, we're trying to encourage everyone to stay [inside] and stay hydrated. Take frequent breaks. Also, if you have a mask - the N95 is considered to be effective in protecting people from this. So that's what we're dealing with.
I also recommended some time ago to have DEC send support to Eastern Canada. We have expert firefighters here. It's not something that is foreign to us. We wanted to send our resources. We have a couple of individuals up there now, fire rangers and experts for wildfires. And we're expecting them to ask us for even more. We put in the offer, and we'll be expecting to send more individuals up there very soon.
This is expected to go for the next few days. There was some thought yesterday that this would abate by Friday. I just received an update minutes ago that that is not expected. So people need to prepare for this over the long haul. And again, we can all feel it. It is an effect - one of the collateral damages of climate change. It's an environmental crisis, and I just want to make sure all New Yorkers are aware of this. You may not see it. You may not even feel it. But it is having a negative effect on everyone. So please take precautions throughout our state.
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