Jakarta (VNA)– Smog from forest fires in Indonesia could complicate the country's efforts tofight the COVID-19 pandemic, as its government has no contingency plan foradditional respiratory diseases, local health expertswarned on May 8.

Wiendra Waworuntu,director for communicable disease prevention and control at the Indonesian Ministryof Health, said that the symptoms of acute respiratory infection caused bysmoke from the fires are similar to coronavirus symptoms.

A simultaneous surgein respiratory illness from the two causes can become a major headache forIndonesian health authorities, Waworuntu said, adding that research shows that thereis a correlation between high mortality rate and high level of pollution in anarea impacted by COVID-19.

Some experts fearthe haze will hamper efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic that has infected13,112 people and killed 943 in Indonesia as of May 8.

The situation mayget worse due to a possible shortage of N95 face masks. Currently, thehigh-grade masks can only be used by medical workers, while members of thepublic have been instructed to wear normal surgical masks.

But Waworuntu saidN95 masks are also needed for people affected by smoke from forest fires,because ordinary masks will not be effective to filter the smoke.

"There may bescarcity of N95 masks in June, July and August when dry season reaches itspeak, while we have to compete with other countries to get them," shesaid.

Moreover, theIndonesian Government has not designed any contingency plan to deal with bothacute respiratory infection caused by forest fires and COVID-19, while mosthuman resources in health have been focused to deal with COVID-19, she added,noting the need for strategies to prevent a catastrophe.

Haze from forest andland fires caused by illegal slash-and-burn farming practices, mostly for palmoil plantations, occurs annually in Indonesia.

As of May 7, atleast 765 hotspots have been detected in the country, although the number waslower than 1,222 a year earlier, according to local authorities.

In 2019, firesdevastated more than 1.6 million hectares of land across the country, mostly onthe islands of Borneo and Sumatra, up from about 630,000 hectares in theprevious year./.