Macau's Health Bureau (SSM) issued today a hypothermia warning, as the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) forecast that the mercury will drop to 8 degrees Celsius tomorrow.
An SSM statement urged residents, the elderly and chronically ill in particular, to prevent hypothermia by bundling up, keeping their home warm but well ventilated, and eating high-calorie but easily digestible food.
According to the statement, hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below 35 degrees Celsius in humans. Symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, slurred speech and red skin, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Macau's Health Bureau said that lack of adequate clothing or prolonged exposure to low environmental temperature are the main causes of hypothermia, in particular when the temperature drops abruptly. According to the bureau, most hypothermia victims are men, particularly elderly males in social exclusion. Other risk factors are chronic disease, trauma, infection, alcohol consumption, and medicine abuse.
The bureau underlined that hypothermia can lead to serious health complications such as inhibition in the nervous system, arrhythmia, renal insufficiency and, in severe cases, even death.
The SSM statement recommended the consumption of high calorie foods such as hot milk, hot soup, congee, pasta and rice during the cold spell, aside from drinking plenty of water.
The statement also urged family members and caregivers to pay close attention to the elderly and chronically sick during the adverse weather conditions.
Those showing severe hypothermia symptoms such as muscle rigidity and bradycardia (slower than normal heart rate) should be rushed to hospital without delay, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau said in a separate statement that "since it will be wet and cold in the next few days, the perceived temperature [the apparent temperature perceived by humans] will be much lower than the actual temperature." The observatory said that it has issued the Yellow Cold Weather Alert as it "expects it to be cold in Macau continuously in the next couple of days."
The weather station also said that today's air quality is "bad".
At 5 p.m., the temperature stood at 12 degrees Celsius, while relative humidity amounted to 88 percent. The temperature is predicted to range between 11 and 8 degrees Celsius tomorrow.
Image courtesy of HHS
