KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 ― The air quality in three areas in Sarawak, namely Samarahan, Sri Aman and Kuching continued to deteriorate this morning.

According to the Department of Environment's website, the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Samarahan was 175 as at 11am today, compared to 171 one hour earlier.

Sri Aman recorded API reading of 151 and Kuching, 149 as at 11am from 148 and 146 respectively, at 10am.

Meanwhile, 20 locations across the country recorded moderate air quality while 29 other locations had good air quality.

The areas with moderate air quality include Sarikei (with API reading of 97) Bintulu (95) in Sarawak, and Kota Tinggi (76) and Larkin Lama (75) in Johor.     

IPU readings of 0-50 denote good air quality, 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy) and 300 and above (hazardous).

The public can visit http://apims.doe.gov.my to know the API readings in their respective areas. ― Bernama