The Environmental Protection Department announced today that it has distributed about 80,000 rapid antigen test kits to the personnel of refuse collection and the recycling trade in an effort to identify those infected with COVID-19.

About 15,000 test kits were distributed to drivers of refuse collection vehicles using the services at landfills and refuse transfer stations as well as staff of landfill and refuse transfer station contractors, while 20,000 kits were delivered to the recycling trade for onward distribution to frontline personnel.

The remaining 45,000 test kits were distributed to frontline employees of operators of waste-to-resources and waste-to-energy facilities such as O·PARK1 and WEEE·PARK.

The department thanked the staff concerned for relentlessly providing the essential public service amid the epidemic, saying that the distribution of such test kits are to enable them to undergo testing to identify those infected early so as to better protect themselves and their families.