SHAH ALAM, Oct 9: The haze that became obvious more than a month back has worsened, with the air pollution index in many parts of the country continuing to indicate unhealthy to even dangerous levels.
The early health complaints such as respiratory issues, teary eyes, headaches, sore throats are now developing into more deeper issues affecting the cardiovascular system, while cases of indigestion have also gone up from exposure for an extended period to the polluted air and contamination of food or water supply.
While rain reduced some amount of the pollution and brought some temporary relief, the burning in Kalimantan, Indonesia has continued and the hazy clouds remain a health hazard for the people in the region including Malaysia, Singapore.
According to the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), which issued a haze level 2 level in early August and level 3, a severe transboundary haze alert on August 26, the haze is expected to remain strong in areas where less rain is expected and dry weather will persist.
It also said the severe transbourndary haze will remain with hotspot activities, meaning the burning that has not stopped in both Kalimantan and other parts of Indonesia. It expects the prevailing winds to continue to blow the smoke haze from the hotspots towards neighbouring ASEAN countries.
Meanwhile, some of the areas that continue to experience very unhealthy and critical level API in the Klang Valley include Subang Jaya with an API of 154 as at .30 am on Friday, October 9, 2026, where even healthy people will start showing symptoms for short exposure, according to Plumelabs by Accuweather.
According to Plumlabs air monitoring site, Klang’s API stood at 155, Shah Alam 171 Kuala Lumpur 196, Petaling Jaya 198.
Among other states badly affected by the haze include Johor, where Skudai hit an API of 219, Johor Bahru 212.
–WE