The City of Greater Geelong today ordered the temporary closure of a popular beach due to ‘Hazardous’ air quality levels, as the region continues to choke through smoke from Australia’s bushfire crisis.
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In an extraordinary statement, the council said it will shut Eastern Beach at Corio Bay and remove lifeguard patrols while thick haze blankets the Victorian coastline.
“We advise against swimming at Eastern Beach until air quality improves and lifeguard patrols resume,” the council said.
Kardinia Aquatic Centre and Lara Aquatic Centre have also been closed.
Images from the beach make the poor air quality in the region pretty bloody apparent.
“Normally you’d be able to see the Geelong city skyline across the bay,” one Instagram user said.
“It stings the throat and eyes and reminds me of the time I stepped into Shenzhen for the first time except worse.”
The move to close those sites — in the middle of summer, no less — comes after a nose-dive in air quality late this morning.
The Environment Protection Authority of Victoria states South Geelong’s concentration of PM2.5 particles was over six times the threshold for ‘Good’ air quality at midday.
As if that wasn’t enough: the area is slated to face gnarly thunderstorms this afternoon.
Several severe thunderstorms are active in the #Geelong area, and moving eastwards towards the Mornington Peninsula. Keep an eye on the radar and warnings on our website: https://t.co/kuyrPWQY5r #VicWeather pic.twitter.com/Q4V9XKLVBV
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 15, 2020
Of course, the poor air quality is hardly isolated to the Geelong region.
Yesterday, tennis player Dalila Jakupovic bowed out of her Australian Open match after suffering a coughing fit in Melbourne.
In late November, Courtney Partridge-McLennan, 19, died after an asthma attack which her family has attributed to heavy smoke in NSW’s Northern Tablelands.
In case you missed it, Tourism Australia also shelved its brand new ad campaign from broadcast in the UK, citing the ongoing hardships caused by the fires.
It now appears punters are unable to even use some of Australia’s famous beaches in the middle of tourist season.
