In Sarawak, unhealthy air quality was recorded in three new areas, Miri with an API reading of 119, Sarikei (152) and Sri Aman (154) due to cross-border haze this afternoon, bringing the total to eight areas compared to five in the morning, Bernama reported.

Five areas that previously recorded unhealthy readings were Kuching (156), Samarahan (157), Serian (169), Bintulu (154) and Samalaju (152).

In Peninsular Malaysia, air quality in Johan Setia, Selangor, was at an unhealthy level with a reading of 153, and moderate readings were recorded in 57 areas across the country, while Langkawi and Kangar recorded readings at a good level.

The environment department’s API figures are for a 24-hour average of air quality, with an API of 0-50 is categorised as good, 51-100 as moderate, 101 to 200 as unhealthy, 201 to 300 (very unhealthy) and above 301 (hazardous).

Real-time API readings from the World Air Quality Index project at 8pm showed unhealthy API readings in Kuching (157), Samarahan (156), Sri Aman (157), Sarikei (152), Bintulu (153) and Samalaju (152), while air quality in Sibu and Miri was “unhealthy for sensitive groups”.

The meteorological department has forecast hot and less rainy weather in most areas of Borneo, including Sarawak, until Aug 14. MetMalaysia said the influence of winds from the south and the expected high number of hotspots in neighbouring countries have the potential to cause transboundary haze and reduce visibility, especially in southern Sarawak.

The Asean haze monitoring centre said clusters of scattered to widespread hotspots were detected in West Kalimantan and the southern parts of Sumatra. It said moderate to dense smoke plumes were observed in West Kalimantan, drifting northwards into the western parts of Sarawak, while moderate to dense smoke plumes were also observed from hotspots in other parts of Kalimantan, central Sarawak, and central and southern Sumatra.