SARAJEVO – SARAJEVO, Bosnia-With the arrival of cold and foggy winter weather amid the pandemic, eastern Europe is facing an extra respiratory health hazard — air pollution.
Countries such as Bosnia and Serbia in the Balkans, and even European Union nations Poland and Croatia, traditionally report high levels of dangerous pollution from heating in winter months.
The United Nations has warned in previous years that people in all major cities across the Western Balkans face alarming levels of air pollution that are reducing their life expectancies.
This year, the problem is coupled with the soaring COVID-19 infections.Thousands of new cases have been reported daily in most countries in the region.