Jenifer Calhoun doesn鈥檛 need the daily government updates about how poor the air quality has become.

She鈥檚 alerted to it with every breath her children take.

Her daughter Hailey, 3, has asthma and since the most recent wave of smoke rolled into the city, she鈥檚 gone through three inhalers in an effort to breathe a little easier.

Then there鈥檚 her seven-month-old son, who she鈥檚 been told has to stay indoors until the worst has passed.

鈥淗is breathing is a concern,鈥� Calhoun said. 鈥淩ight now he鈥檚 having a hard time and I have to take him to the doctor today.鈥�

So they鈥檙e housebound and their view isn鈥檛 great. Usually from their vantage point in the Lower Mission, they could see the hillsides. Now they鈥檙e just looking at a wall of grey.

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鈥淓verybody is getting cabin fever,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey want to go outside, but the doctor advised we can鈥檛 so we鈥檝e just been doing crafts鈥� we can鈥檛 even take our dog for a walk.鈥�

It鈥檚 not just the Calhoun family that鈥檚 suffering from the weight of smoky skies.

Infants, the elderly and people with health complications such as heart disease or asthma have been advised to stay indoors with the windows shut. Air conditioning and filters are considered a must, though they鈥檙e not improving conditions for everyone.

Michael Boyarski, district manager for BC Ambulance Services in the Central Okanagan said that there has been a significant jump in calls in the last month.

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鈥淭he Central Okanagan saw an 11 per cent increase in call volume for the month of July when compared to the previous month,鈥� Boyarski said, adding he can鈥檛 confirm the spike in calls is directly to do with air quality.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry did, however, make that connection in a Tuesday press conference addressing the current state of wildfires around the province.

鈥淲e do monitoring of trends over time and we look at how many people have doctors visits or prescriptions for medications,鈥� Henry said.

鈥淲e have seen an increase of people who access medical care for respiratory conditions and that鈥檚 varied by time of day and different places across the province.鈥�

Henry also said that air quality fluctuates greatly depending on the weather.

Real-time air pollution data collected by the World Air Quality Index project, pegged the air quality index in 琉璃神社 at an 鈥渦nhealthy鈥� level on Friday, while Beijing was 鈥済ood.鈥�

琉璃神社 air on Tuesday was dirtier than New Delhi, which is renowned for its subpar air quality. It had an 鈥渦nhealthy for sensitive groups鈥� rating that day.

The difference, however, is the Central Okanagan is not suffering from poor air quality on a long term basis.