The air quality across the island remained poor, with the 24-hour PSI in the west hitting a season high of 230 at 10am in the “very unhealthy” band, before dipping slightly to 227 at noon.
At 5pm, the PSI reading in the west fell back into the “unhealthy” range, with readings across the island ranging from 112 to 197.
Air quality is considered “unhealthy” when the PSI – a 24-hour rolling average of six key air pollutants – is in the range of 101 to 200, and “very unhealthy” when it is in the range of 201 to 300.
The one-hour PM2.5 readings – measured in micrograms per cubic metre – hovered between the “elevated” and “normal” bands.
The readings in the east (82), west (68) and central (56) regions were in the “elevated” band at 5pm, while those in the north (36) and south (35) fell in the “normal” band.
PM2.5 scores from 0 to 55 represent normal values, those between 56 and 150 indicate an elevated concentration of fine particles, while readings between 151 and 250 are considered high and scores above 251 are classified as very high.
The highest PM2.5 reading so far in 2026 was recorded at 3pm on Oct 14 in the western part of the island at 288.
Singapore is in its 14th consecutive day of unhealthy air since Oct 5 – the longest continuous stretch of poor air quality the country has endured since the 2015 haze crisis.
That year, bad air lasted 14 days from Sept 23 to Oct 7.
In its daily haze advisory on the evening of Oct 17, the National Environment Agency (NEA) forecast the PSI to be between 150 (unhealthy) and 220 (very unhealthy).
Meanwhile, F&B businesses are struggling as haze conditions worsen.
Tekka Centre food stall owner Zaiton Bee had already been struggling with the high costs of running her business before the haze.
Suffocated by the bad air now, she is considering shuttering the food stall she has been running for a decade.
The 73-year-old said she would serve about 500 customers a day before the haze situation escalated. Currently, she gets only about 200 diners daily.
She said she was pessimistic about whether she could continue running the stall with the lingering haze, her old age, the declining number of customers and S$4,000 (RM12,747) in monthly costs, including rental, electricity and dish-washing fees.
This time of the year, during the lead-up to Deepavali, usually sees Tekka Centre packed with families doing their preparations for the festival.
“Now got no business, it’s very boring. We want to close the shop. If we cannot do business, maybe in a few months or next year we will give up,” she added.
The Deepavali festive season does not appear to be giving its usual uplift to stall owners at Tekka Centre.
Muhammad Yusof Syed Mohamed, a marketing researcher who helps his brother run a drink stall there, said footfall has dropped by about 30% since the haze began.
The 43-year-old said: “About 40% of the patrons here are the elderly. They are scared for their health, so they are staying indoors as the government advised them to.
“The haze affecting businesses is a small thing and for only a few months. But having elderly people in the hospital because of the haze is more serious.”
Others in the industry across the country have also seen a drop in customers.
A Chinese food stall worker at Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre said its business can fall by as much as a third on a bad day.
“The customers are going to enclosed or air-conditioned places to eat, or they will cook at home. Who wants to leave their house when it’s so hazy?” said the 53-year-old, who wanted to be known only as Ling.
She hopes the government will provide some form of financial aid to hawkers to help them through this period. — The Straits Times/ANN
