As of 18 September 2019, 12:14 pm, Singapore is reported to rank 4th in terms of worst air quality and pollution.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse…
Sarawak’s Air Pollution Index Hit 367
According to Business Insider, Sri Aman, Sarawak air pollution index hit the “hazardous” level at 367.
This is mainly due to the raging forest fire in Kalimantan, Indonesia, which is located near Sarawak.
The smoke haze has also affected neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.
The pollution also forced the Education Ministry in Malaysia to order hundreds of schools to close.
Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE) is also currently monitoring the situation and will be declaring school closure if the haze situation were to worsen.
Singapore Rapidly Increasing In Rank
While increasing in rank sounds like a positive statement, it, unfortunately, isn’t in this scenario.
Singapore was initially in the 16th place on Monday morning, 16 September 2019, however, she went up to sixth place on Tuesday morning.
I’ve just done a check and we just rose in rank again to the fourth place.
As you can see, the air quality has been relatively inconsistent and has only started rising in the past two days.
This is believed to be due to the wind direction as reported by The Straits Times.
Deaths Have Been Reported In Indonesia
Fortunately, in Singapore, no deaths due to the haze condition have been reported.
However, the National Environmental Agency (NEA) is advising all Singaporeans to avoid sporting activities or any form of outdoor activities.
People are also encouraged to wear their masks and drivers and motorists are encouraged to switch on their headlights and drive with care due to the poor visibility caused. If you’ve driven to work this morning, you’d have seen “Turn on your headlights” signs even when the sun’s shining brightly.
So far, two deaths due to respiratory infections have been reported in Indonesia, which includes a 4-month-old infant and 59-year-old man.
NEA has since introduced Haze Task Force (HTF) which compromises 28 government agencies.
HTF’s goal is to implement measures to protect the public’s health and well-being. They will be meeting annually in May, which is said to be the start of the dry season, to update its plan.
The current PSI level at 12 pm, 18 September 2019 is within the unhealthy range of 111.
NEA advised that the N95 mask is not necessary yet as it is only needed when the PSI value hits hazardous levels.
However, this is excluding the elderly, pregnant ladies and those with respiratory and cardiac issues participating in outdoor activities.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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