KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Malaysians in many parts of the country woke up to blue skies today as they cherished the respite from the haze which had enveloped much of the country over the past week.

Rain in several areas overnight had helped to drastically reduce the haze which had hitherto kept people in badly affected areas indoors, shut down schools and aggravated respiratory ailments.

At 9am today, the haze was at the unhealthy level in only three places — Banting in Selangor (at 108), Nilai in Negri Sembilan (145) and Bukit Rambai in Malacca (109).

The air pollutant index (API) was at the moderate level in 32 other areas, among them Kota Tinggi (68), Larkin Lama (63) and Muar (77) in Johor; the City of Malacca (94); Port Dickson (88) and Seremban (83) in Negri Sembilan; Tanjung Malim (69) in Perak; Kuala Selangor (55) and Petaling Jaya (87) in Selangor, and Putrajaya (84).

The air pollution level is categorised as hazardous when the reading is 301 or more; very unhealthy at 201 to 300; unhealthy at 101 to 200; moderate at 51 to 100 and good at zero to 50. — Bernama