KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has put on hold lectures and cancelled campus activities until further notice due to the worsening haze in the northern region.

The university’s vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Omar Osman advised students to remain indoors and use the time to study on their own.

“In the current condition, we have made the decision to postpone lectures and cancel out-of-class activities including co-curriculum studies and leisurely activities of the students and staff,” he said in a statement.

“We also advise them to stay indoors especially in the dormitories and hostels and to not, under any circumstance, use this time of cancelled lectures to participate in outdoor activities as it would affect their health.”

The notice affects those studying in the main campus, the Bertam campus, as well as the USM Engineering campus in Nibong Tebal.

“We will make the necessary decisions in handling the issue from time to time as well as assist lecturers in putting together replacement lectures including night sessions when the situation allows us to do so,” Omar added.

He also said there would be a series of health education related activities and advised all students and staffers to inform heads of departments should they face health problems.

Schools in eight states and two federal territories in Malaysia were closed today as the Air Pollution Index (API) in some districts hit “very unhealthy” levels, marking the fourth day schools had to be closed due to the haze.

The closure today affected 2,696,110 students in 4,778 schools.

Yesterday, 2,528 schools — involving 1,734,668 students — in four states and two federal territories were closed.

On Tuesday, 3,029 schools and 1,909,842 students were affected in the school closures.

According to the API scale used by Malaysia, readings below 50 indicate low pollution, 51-100 is considered a moderate range, 101-200 is unhealthy, 201-300 is very unhealthy, while readings above 300 is considered hazardous.