Air Quality in Pekanbaru Deteriorates, Schools Require Students to Wear Masks

Illustration of students learning to wear masks in Riau (ANTARA)

PEKANBARU - Air quality in Pekanbaru City, Riau is getting worse, triggered by forest and land fires (karhutla), as a result a number of schools are starting to require students to wear masks.

One of the things that requires students to wear masks is at SDN 6 Pekanbaru. Even though learning activities are still running normally, the school has taken precautions for students from an early age so that they do not suffer from acute respiratory infections (ARI).

"The principal has been advising since Saturday morning that students are advised to wear masks to school, and reduce activities outside the home or school," said Arta Manalu, class III A teacher at SDN 6 Pekanbaru, Tuesday 3 October.

Regarding the air quality which is starting to get worse, Arta said that the learning process and study hours are still as usual, they have not yet switched to an online system.

"If there is an appeal from the leadership. Until now (study hours, ed) are still as usual. There has been no change, it's still Monday to Saturday, because we are still studying as usual," he explained.

The school hopes that the relevant agencies can provide masks to all students. Because currently the masks used are purchased independently and do not meet health standards.

"We hope that the competent parties in this matter will have the intention to distribute masks to schools," he concluded.

Meanwhile, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) detected 14 forest and land fires spread across five districts in Riau Province.

"Specifically in Riau, the 14 hot spots (hotspots) are in 5 districts. Bengkalis Regency 1 point, Kuantan Singingi 1, Rokan Hilir 8, Rokan Hulu 3, and Siak 1 point," said Forecaster on Duty BMKG SSK II Pekanbaru, Yasir P

Visibility in Pekanbaru City and several other areas reaches 2.5-5 kilometers with hazy air status. "Pekanbaru City, Indragiri Hulu, Dumai City, Pelalawan Regency and Kampar Regency, visibility is 2.5 to 5 kilometers, the air is blurry," he explained.

The weather in Pekanbaru City and its surroundings tends to be sunny to cloudy. "The potential for light to moderate intensity rain occurs in parts of Kampar Regency, Kuantan Singingi Regency, Indragiri Hulu Regency, Indragiri Hilir Regency, Siak Regency, Pelalawan Regency and Pekanbaru City," he said.

Judging from the official BMKG website, Pekanbaru City's air quality has decreased to unhealthy levels and touched the yellow line. Today, air quality is starting to improve slightly with 52.70 µgram/m3.