Haze update: 9am PSI back in 'hazardous' range with 323 reading

Singapore's air quality is back in the "hazardous" range, as the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index rose to 323 at 9am on Saturday, up from 292 an hour earlier.

This after a slight reprieve from the night when PSI levels remained under 200.

Still air is considered 'unhealthy' when PSI readings range between 101 and 200.

Noontime on Friday saw a new record high of 401. Anything above 300 is hazardous, and readings between 201 and 300 are very unhealthy.

The 24 hour average PSI at 9am was in the 177-241 range, a slight decrease from 179-246 at 8am.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted on Instagram last night, a photo of warehouse workers in Jurong packing up cartons of N95 face masks onto a pallet.

"We will give 1 million masks to low-income families, and distribute more to retailers," he wrote. "Don't panic-buy! (Thank you) for helping one another overcome the haze."

PM Lee's comments comes after the Government's assurance on Friday that it would give free N95 masks to lower-income households, starting with some 200,000 of the poorest households and the vulnerable living here.

Grassroots groups will start distributing the masks from today, with the Singapore Armed Forces helping with the roll-out.

National guidelines will also be spelt out for how businesses and the community should respond if the 24-hour PSI reading rises beyond 300, which has not happened to date.

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