The toxic air in Sydney, which has triggered a run on protective mask sales and spike in hospital visits, will worsen over the next 48 hours. 9News
understands shelves of face masks at Bunnings Warehouse have been plundered in recent weeks as Sydney residents try to protect themselves from the smoke.
But the NSW Health Director of Environmental Health, Dr Richard Broome, said only one type of face mask has any chance of stopping tiny toxic particles entering the lungs. Over the weekend video and photographs of black ash particles in the water and on the shoreline at some of Sydney's beaches began to emerge on social media. Images of an orange sky above Sydney's iconic harbour and structures have filled the social media timelines of people living in the NSW capital.
A NSW Health spokesperson confirmed NSW Ambulance had fielded around 2,330 calls in the same period, 30 percent more than the weekly average of 1,780.
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