THE dry season has yet to be declared in the Philippines but several areas have already suspended face-to-face classes because of rising temperatures.

Some of the local government units that suspended in-person classes were Bacolod City, the cities of Bago, Kabankalan, Silay and Talisay as well as the municipalities of E.B. Magalona, Murcia and Hinoba-an in Negros Occidental.

In Bacolod, the local government unit suspended in-person classes in elementary and secondary levels and urged schools to adopt alternative methods of instruction on March 11 and 12.

Some colleges and universities also called off in-person activities as the heat index in Bacolod reached 41 and 40 degrees Celsius on Monday and Tuesday.

The US National Weather Service defines heat index as “what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature.”