Singapore — The Government will soon release hourly readings of the 24-hour PSI and 24-hour PSI at PM2.5 concentration to keep the public more well-informed, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Ministry of Health (MOH) in a joint briefing today (June 20).

The 24-hour PSI readings are currently published three times a day, at 8am, 12pm and 4pm. The PM2.5 reading measures fine particles measuring 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter, as well as ultrafine particles, and soot.

Noting that the PSI is expected to remain in the “very unhealthy” range tomorrow, the ministries also assured that there are sufficient stocks of N95 masks nationally to meet anticipated needs.

They urged members of the public not to stockpile as the masks should be bought only when needed. They said that large retail/pharmacy chains such as Guardian, Unity, Cold Storage and Giant, will have N95 masks available by this evening.

Employers who have difficulty getting the masks can call the Ministry of Manpower at 6438 5122.

Separately, NTUC FairPrice said this evening that it expects its first shipment of close to two million face masks, of varying types, to arrive on Sunday (June 23). The masks will be made available at all FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest and FairPrice Xtra hypermarkets islandwide from Monday (24 June 2013) onwards.

The haze particles could cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat in most healthy individuals, but can be harmful to those with chronic lung or heart disease. The NEA and MOH said there may be one to three days’ time lag between exposure to haze and health effects/symptons.

However, they said hospitals and polyclinics are on alert and additional bed capacity and manpower are ready to be deployed when needed.