Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan today thanked a working group for their efforts in assisting with the implementation of the requirement on air change or air purifiers to be complied with in dine-in catering premises.

The working group has submitted its final report to the Government, summarising its work and outcome over the past nine months and providing insights on anti-epidemic strategy.

The group was established for the smooth implementation of the requirement that was stipulated in March.

Prof Chan hailed the working group, under Prof Yuen Pak-leung’s chairmanship and with the support from members who are experts in their professional disciplines, for their strong commitment and commendable efforts in assisting with the smooth and expeditious implementation of the requirement.

She added that the final report has shed light on the pathways for further actions and helped galvanise other parties into action for delivering a better-ventilated indoor environment by minimising the viral load in the air.

Since March, the working group had released a list of air purifiers that met the designated specifications for reference by catering premises operators and ventilation works contractors. So far, 464 air purifiers are listed.

As at November 30, more than 18,200 food premises which had registered with the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department, were confirmed to have met the requirement.

Among them, more than 2,000 had air change per hour (ACH) at six or above, more than 16,000 had installed air purifiers, while 128 met both the ACH and air purifier requirements.

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