When the 24-hour PSI sits between 101 and 200, the Ministry of Health tells parents to minimise prolonged or strenuous outdoor activity for children, and to cut it further if readings climb into the very unhealthy or hazardous bands.
That line sits on MOH’s haze advisory page (updated 14 July 2026) and matches NEA’s haze.gov.sg outdoor-activity guide. Use the 24-hour PSI forecast to plan tomorrow’s park or CCA, and the 1-hour PM2.5 reading for the next hour’s playground call.
What the bands mean for a household with kids
At PSI 0 to 100, normal outdoor play is fine for healthy children. At 101 to 200 (unhealthy), minimise long or hard outdoor sessions. At 201 to 300, minimise outdoor activity altogether for children. Above 300, avoid outdoor activity.
Children with asthma, heart or lung conditions sit in the more cautious column at every unhealthy step. Keep reliever inhalers and usual medicines packed, not left at home “because it looked clearer this morning”.
Masks, school buses and indoor fallback
MOH says N95 masks are not needed for short trips such as home to school, and not needed indoors. Healthy people outdoors for several hours only when PSI is hazardous may consider a well-fitted N95; elderly, pregnant women and people with severe lung or heart problems should ask a doctor first. Children should not do hard exercise while masked, and stop if breathing feels uncomfortable.
Paediatric advice reported with the 15 September haze spike also pointed to school-bus air: windows closed, air-conditioning on recirculate rather than pulling outside air. Several clinics told ST they were seeing more cough, rhinitis and asthma flare-ups in children during the unhealthy spell.
Preschools and some camps have already cut outdoor sessions when PSI crossed into the unhealthy range this month. Treat that as a cue to build an indoor Plan B rather than a surprise on the morning itself.
For the next outdoor play date, check haze.gov.sg or the myENV app before you leave, and keep an indoor backup if the 1-hour PM2.5 band is elevated.
