The conditions in Canberra, which currently has comfortably the worst air quality of any major city in the entire world, are that bad right now that it might well force the closure of the Museum of Australian Democracy, which stands as something of a sad piece of irony as far as how everything else in that town is going right now.
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Officials at the Museum, which is housed inside Old Parliament House, Tweeted a short time ago that worsening smoke conditions could force the facility to close its doors to the public.
As the smoke continues to worsen in Canberra we may need to close the building to visitors. Please check our website for updates before your visit.
— MuseumofAusDemocracy (@MoAD_Canberra) January 2, 2020
Elsewhere, conditions in Canberra have reportedly gotten so bad that Australia Post has made the rather extraordinary move to suspend all delivery services across the ACT due to the on-going health risks for posties and delivery drivers.
In a short statement issued this morning, AusPost officials asserted “the safety of our people is our top priority, and with hazardous smoke conditions continuing across ACT we are suspending all postie and van deliveries until further notice.” They apologised for the inconvenience to customers, but stated that “we must do what is right for our people.”
There is also some suggestion that the smoke conditions in Canberra are so bad right now that some procedures at Canberra Hospital are being impacted, including MRI tests.
The Canberra Hospital has had to cancel some medical/diagnostic procedures due to smoke impacting the building and equipment. I’m told MRI machines can’t operate, won’t be operating today or tomorrow. #canberrasmoke
— Dr Liz Allen (@DrDemography) January 1, 2020
For what it’s worth, despite all the doom and gloom surrounding the nation’s capital at the moment, the annual Summernats festival is still going ahead, with festivities for the four-day event kicking off across the city today.
Summernats rolls into Canberra today! The City Cruise will kick off at 12pm, starting from Exhibition Park in Cbr, making its way to London Cct & back to EPIC. Northbourne Ave will remain open, but expect lengthy delays. Traffic will be impacted around EPIC over the 4 day event. pic.twitter.com/U3fXtznTEz
— ACT Policing (@ACTPolicing) January 2, 2020
I mean, if the air is already thick with smoke then a metric tonne of burnouts isn’t going to do too much in the grand scheme of things. Drop those clutches, I guess.
