People and commuters wear face masks on their way to work, braving heavy air pollution in the Chinese capital city as levels soared to more than 20 times the safety levels resulting in a red alert for all of Beijing. © Olli Geibel

People and commuters wear face masks on their way to work, braving heavy air pollution in the Chinese capital city as levels soared to more than 20 times the safety levels resulting in a red alert for all of Beijing. © Olli Geibel

Olli Geibel / Alamy Stock Photo

Image ID: F8E6KW

People wearing face masks on their way to work are braving more air pollution in the Chinese capital as levels soared to more than 20 times the safety levels. Beijing has issued its first red alert for air pollution under a four-tier emergency scale. The most serious red alert, will last for three days. Under a red alert, the city's emergency management headquarters has advised kindergartens, primary and high schools to suspend classes, banned outdoor operations on construction sites and required some industrial plants to limit or stop production. Car use will be limited to 24hr blocks depending on the odd or even numbers of their license plates. Additionally one third of government cars will be banned from streets.

Location: Chaoyangmen Outer Street, Chaowai, Chaoyang, Beijing, China