Protect Children and Older Parents From Smog in Punjab: EPA Advice at Each AQI Level

Punjab's official advice is to start protecting children and older relatives once the AQI passes 100, not when the city is already grey. From 151 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says keep children indoors and older people at home, close doors and windows, and use a mask outside. From 201 it says an N95 mask. From 301 it says stay indoors.

Those steps come from the health advisory on the EPA's own AQI Punjab dashboard, which gives separate advice for the general public and for "vulnerable groups". We looked for a separate smog advisory from the Punjab health department and did not find one published online. So this guide follows the EPA's advice and its past smog orders.

At 1:00 am on 3 October 2026, Lahore already read AQI 233, "Unhealthy", on the official dashboard.

Children and older people are the EPA's vulnerable groups

The EPA's advisory treats children, older people and patients with lung or heart disease as vulnerable groups. Its school orders name "children, elderly individuals, and people with respiratory and/or cardiac ailments" as the people most at risk in smog season.

The advisory names two conditions by their short forms. COPD is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a long term lung disease that makes breathing hard. CVD is cardiovascular disease, meaning heart and blood vessel problems. Asthma is not named in the advisory itself, but the EPA's 2024 order for special schools listed asthma, chest infections and heart disease among the conditions "triggered with poor air quality".

The EPA's advice changes at each AQI level

For vulnerable groups, the advice moves from "limit outdoor activity" at 101 to "keep children indoors" at 151, "N95 mask if going out" at 201, "stay indoors" at 301 and "stay at home, use air purifiers" at 401. Check the live number before deciding.

At every level from 151 up, the advisory adds one line for patients with COPD or heart disease: consult a doctor about which mask to use.

To find the live number, the official Lahore air quality dashboard shows readings for each station and each district.

Protect a child on a smog day in six steps

Check the AQI before school, keep the child indoors when it passes 150, close windows, use a fitted mask outside, keep inhalers ready, and watch for warning signs. These steps follow the EPA's advisory and its earlier school orders.

1. Check the reading near your home first thing. Mornings are often worst in smog season. The EPA moved school opening to 8:45 am last winter for that reason.
2. Keep outdoor play short from 101, and stop it from 151. When the EPA reopened schools in November 2024, it banned all outdoor sports and outdoor activities in schools.
3. Close doors and windows on bad days. The EPA's advice to the public in November 2025 said the same.
4. Use a mask that fits. The advisory says a mask from 151 and an N95 from 201. An N95 is a fitted mask made to filter fine particles. It works only when it seals around the nose and mouth, so a loose one does little.
5. Keep medicines in reach. If your child uses an inhaler or a nebuliser, check it works and the medicine is in date before the season, not during a bad week.
6. Get medical help early. The EPA's public advisory says seek immediate medical attention for breathing difficulty, coughing, or eye or throat irritation. For an emergency, call Rescue 1122.

Older parents need daily checks, not only a mask

For older people the EPA advises staying indoors from AQI 151, regular checks of oxygen and blood pressure from 101, and a doctor's advice on masks for anyone with lung or heart disease. A home pulse oximeter makes the oxygen check simple.

A pulse oximeter is the small clip that goes on a finger and shows the oxygen level in the blood. The EPA advisory does not say what reading should worry you. Ask your parent's own doctor for that number now, and write it down where the family can see it.

Here is a short plan that follows the advisory:

• Move the morning walk indoors when the AQI is above 150. The advisory says "prefer indoor gyms or home workouts" when air quality is very poor.
• Do not burn anything inside. Wood, coal and rubbish fires add smoke to a closed room.
• Keep a week of regular medicine at home, so nobody needs to go out on the worst days.

Air purifiers appear in the advisory only at the Hazardous level. If you are thinking of buying one, the air purifier for smog buying advice explains what the claims mean.

Past smog orders sent sick children home and moved school hours

The EPA has used its powers under section 6(1)(t) of the Punjab Environmental Protection Act 1997 to protect children directly. In 2024 it put special school pupils with chest and heart conditions in Lahore on leave, and in 2025 it ordered schools not to open before 8:45 am.

None of these orders is in force today, and we found no 2026 order yet. The EPA's orders page still carries the 2025 season's heading. If your child has asthma or a heart condition, talk to the school now about online work on bad days rather than waiting for an order. Closures, when they come, are covered by smog school closures in Punjab.

Common questions

At what AQI should children stay indoors in Punjab?

From 151. The EPA's advisory says "keep children indoors" in the Unhealthy for sensitive groups band, 151 to 200, and "stay indoors" from 301.

Does a surgical mask protect against smog?

The EPA advisory asks for an N95 mask from AQI 201. It names the N95, a fitted mask made to filter fine particles, rather than a cloth or surgical mask. Fit matters as much as type.

Should an elderly heart patient wear an N95?

Ask their doctor first. The EPA advisory says COPD and heart patients should consult a doctor for mask use or mask selection at every level from 151.

Has the Punjab health department issued a smog advisory for 2026?

We did not find one online on 3 October 2026. The band by band health advice published by the government is on the EPA's AQI Punjab dashboard.

When should I take my child to hospital in smog?

The EPA says seek immediate medical attention for breathing difficulty, coughing, or eye or throat irritation. A child struggling to breathe or speak needs help at once.

Will schools close for smog this year?

No order has been issued for 2026 so far. In past years the EPA ordered closures when readings stayed very high, and the School Education Department followed with its own notification.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked at 2:00 am PKT on 3 October 2026. We read the health advisory and the live readings on the Punjab EPA's AQI dashboard at aqi.punjab.gov.pk, and the EPA's orders and advisories on its notifications and orders page: Order No. 96 of 2024 on special schools, Advisory No. 109 of 2024 on face masks, Order No. 139 of 2024 on reopening schools, Order No. 401 of 2025 on school timings and Public Advisory No. 406 of 21 November 2025. We searched the Punjab health department websites for a smog advisory and found none. This guide is not medical advice. If someone in your family has asthma, a lung condition or a heart condition, agree a smog plan with their own doctor.