24-hour PSI set to rise into very unhealthy range, some improvement expected on Tuesday morning

Hazy conditions seen from VivoCity at 5.30pm on Monday, Sept 28. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
A pupil returning home from school at Pasir Ris Drive 6 at 3.30pm on Monday. ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
Haze conditions at Orchard Road at 2.13pm on Monday, Sept 28, 2015. PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
Hazy conditions as seen at Marina Bay Sands at 2.30pm on Monday, Sept 28, 2015. ST PHOTO: YEO KAI WEN
Hazy conditions as seen at Marina Bay Sands at 2.30pm on Monday, Sept 28, 2015. ST PHOTO: YEO KAI WEN

SINGAPORE - Hazy conditions will continue on Tuesday (Sept 29) with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) set to rise over the next 24 hours.

The 24-hour PSI for the next 24 hours is expected to be in the mid to high sections of the very unhealthy range, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Monday evening (Sept 28). However, some improvement is expected on Tuesday morning.

As of 11pm on Monday, the 24-hour PSI was in the unhealthy range, with the reading being between 141 and 195. The three-hour PSI, which is not tied to a health advisory, was 135.

Monday saw hazy skies returning after a temporary respite over the weekend, as schools across Singapore reopened. The NEA said that the deterioriation was due to a shift in prevailing winds blowing from the south-south-west, which brought denser haze from Sumatra.

A total of 127 hotspots were detected in Sumatra on Monday, mostly in the south.

In a press released issued on Sunday evening, the Ministry of Education (MOE) assured parents that schools have put in place a set of haze management plans, and are equipped with air purifiers and sufficient enclosed spaces for all students.

Measures taken include minimising outdoor activities and making sure students who are unwell or have pre-existing lung or heart conditions are exempt from all physical exercise.

The MOE took the unprecedented step last Friday (Sept 25) of closing all primary and secondary schools, as well as MOE-run kindergartens and special education schools, as the haze reached hazardous levels.

On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean revealed that Indonesia's Coordinating Minister Luhut Panjaitan had provided reassurances to Singapore that it was taking the haze very seriously, and was preparing to deploy more troops to tackle forest fires.

Given the air quality forecast, healthy people should reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion. The elderly, pregnant women and children should minimise prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion, while those with chronic lung or heart disease should avoid prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion.

Those with chronic heart or lung conditions should seek medical attention if they are feeling unwell.

For updates, visit the NEA website and the haze microsite, and follow NEA's Facebook page or Twitter account, or download the myEnv app.

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