CONSERVATION experts are increasingly concerned with surgical mask litter all over the island.
Clean-up groups here have been picking up an average of four to five surgical masks during each clearing foray at local parks, beaches and neighbourhoods.
Eugene Heng, founder and chief executive of Waterways Watch Society, said it had seen a threefold increase in mask litter in recent weeks.
The organisation conducts an average of two to three coastal and waterway clean-ups each week, usually covering Jurong Lakeside Park, Kallang Riverside Park and Punggol Waterway Park.
In the third week of November alone, 19 masks were picked up in the Kallang and Marina Bay areas.