No sun or blue sky in polluted city where kids cannot breathe

THE words of the state anthem of Rondonia say “our sky is always blue”. But despite being nearly 40C, I haven’t seen the sun or a blue sky for days in Porto Velho.

Smoke lingers over the capital and last month air quality dropped to its worst level on record – nine times the legal limit.

Experts say it is the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes a day, which would explain why I have had a headache since I arrived and reignited asthma symptoms I’ve not suffered since I was a child.

At the Cosme e Damião Children’s Hospital, I saw wards packed full of coughing children, some as young as six months old.

One two-year-old girl has spent more than a month here

as she battles pneumonia, aggravated by the smoke.

Her grandmother, fearful of giving me her name due to repercussions from Bolsonaro supporters, said she is “praying for rain” for some relief from the pollution and wished the fires would stop.

The World Health Organisation’s global guidelines for air quality states that average daily levels of particulate matter (tiny particles of dust) now cannot exceed 25 micrograms per cubic metre.

Dr Daniel Pires, above, a paediatrician and deputy general director of the hospital, said readings last month got as high as 220 micrograms – “the worst polluted air in the world”.

Dr Pires has worked at the hospital for almost 15 years but said this year has been the worst for smoke-related respiratory illnesses – now the number one reason for admissions.

He feared it could get worse as burning season is not over and he has huge concerns for the longterm health of the city’s children.