16 April 2021

To: Licensees/Persons-in-charge of food premises

Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions)
(Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F)
Composite list of air purifiers that meet the specified specifications and the Guide

Pursuant to the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) (the Regulation), the Government gazetted the latest specifications and directions in relation to catering business on 13 April 2021 to maintain the social distancing measures currently in place, and specify that a staff member involved in the operation of the business on the premises does not need to adopt the required testing arrangement starting from the 14th day after he/she has completed a COVID-19 vaccination course[Note] and should keep the vaccination record as proof of vaccination. ă€€The specifications and directions have taken effect since 15 April 2021.  These will last for a period of 14 days till 28 April 2021.  Please refer to Annex I for details.

[Note] For both the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine (CoronaVac vaccine) and Fosun Pharma/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty vaccine), completing the vaccination course involves receiving two doses in general.
For persons previously infected with COVID-19, they may be deemed to have completed the COVID-19 vaccination course after receiving one dose of Comirnaty vaccine.
For individuals who received COVID-19 vaccines in places outside of Hong Kong and have received the necessary doses as stipulated in guidelines by the local health authorities, they will also be regarded to have completed the vaccination course of the relevant COVID-19 vaccine.

The Secretary for Food and Health has earlier stipulated a requirement on air change or air purifiers to be complied with in dine-in restaurants in the directions in relation to catering business under the Regulation.  To assist the catering business operators and registered specialist contractors –

  1. Since the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD)’s online platform was launched on 18 March 2021 for registration purposes, the list of registered specialist contractors (ventilation works category) on the Buildings Department’s webpage has been hyperlinked to FEHD’s online platform;
  2. The Working Group has announced the list of air purifiers that meet the specified specifications and uploaded it onto FEHD's webpage since 1 April, and has been updating the composite list in response to the supplementary information submitted by the suppliers from time to time.  As of 16 April, there is altogether a total of 245 air purifiers meeting the specified specifications; and
  3. The Working Group also released the “Guide on Compliance with Requirement on Air Change / Air Purifiers in Seating Areas of Dine-in Catering Premises” on 11 April 2021 to enable the trades to master the essential points and facilitate expeditious follow-up arrangements, so as to facilitate the prompt implementation of the relevant requirement.

The above-mentioned composite list of air purifiers that meet the specified specifications as well as the Guide may be downloaded from the FEHD's webpage –

The composite list:
https://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/licensing/guide_general_reference/Information_air-changes_purification.html

The Guide:
https://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/licensing/guide_general_reference/guide_on_compliance_with_requirement_on_air_change.html

The Working Group will be meeting soon, and we will write to you separately once ready.