Health Minister of Ukraine Maxym Stepanov gave advice to Ukrainians how to avoid the negative health effects of air pollution due to smog over Kyiv as a result of burning of dry grass and garbage in private households as well as on the territory of Zhytomyr region.

The Minister made the relevant recommendations during a daily briefing.

“Smog, smoke in the air can cause headaches, coughs, difficulties with breathing, and eye irritation. Therefore, we have some tips for avoiding the negative health effects under these conditions. First, we recommend spending as much time as possible at home, drinking 2-3 liters of water a day, not opening windows and doing wet cleaning,” said Maxym Stepanov.

Other recommendations aired by the Minister include the following:

• limit staying outside;
• refrain from exercising outdoors;
• close windows and doors tightly;
• use air-conditioning and air-purification systems if possible;
• do wet cleaning inside premises;
• increase drinking to 2-3 liters per day.

According to the Minister of Health, referring to the data of the State Emergency Service, smog over Kyiv does not pose any chemical and radiological threat, while the radiation level in the city of Kyiv and Kyiv region is within normal limits and does not exceed natural background level (NBL).