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Written by: Li Enci
2020-11-30 08:00
Last update date: 2020-11-30 08:00
Many experts have suggested that restaurants should increase air circulation to achieve at least 6 air changes per hour.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced in mid-October that it has launched a voluntary reporting scheme for air change in catering premises, allowing restaurants to declare that their premises’ ventilation system meets the required hourly air exchange rate for identification by the public.
More than a month later, as of the 26th of this month, only 55 restaurants participated in the plan, accounting for only 0.35% of all restaurants in Hong Kong. The response was rather cold.
Huang Jielong, chairman of the Sufulou Group and president of the Rice Seedling Society, said that the incentives of the plan are insufficient and the industry is not sufficiently encouraging. It is recommended that the government increase incentives, such as promising that the restaurants participating in the plan will not need to suspend business, or will not restrict the restaurant Customer measures are too tight.
Participating restaurants must hire an engineer at their own expense to pass the certification. Huang Jiahe, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Catering Industries, said that the FEHD has not explained the details of the plan to the industry, and the price of the ventilation technology inspection fee is not transparent. The Department has given a list of qualified contractors and prices for reference.
Government expert advisors Yuan Guoyong and Xu Shuchang have repeatedly urged restaurants to increase the frequency of indoor air changes to reduce the risk of virus transmission, and overall help resolve the crisis of outbreaks and closures of restaurants.
However, the FEHD launched a plan earlier to encourage restaurants to voluntarily obtain "certification" by putting the list of relevant restaurants on the Internet for public reference. The objective effect is to make the public feel more comfortable patronizing, but the industry's response was cold.
To be included in the "certification" list, there are two types of requirements that a restaurant must meet, one is sufficient ventilation, and the other is the purchase of air purification equipment.
First, the licensees of the issued general restaurant, light refreshment restaurant, floating restaurant and factory canteen licenses can voluntarily declare through the online platform that their licensed premises have reached at least 6 air changes per hour. At the same time, submit a certificate issued by a registered specialist contractor (ventilation system engineering category). After confirmation, the information will be displayed on the list of licensed premises on the FEHD website.
Second, catering premises that have not yet reached the relevant air exchange rate can install air purification equipment that meets the specifications, and install equipment with ultraviolet rays or combined with high-efficiency particulate air filtration technology (HEPA) on the premises.
Information on voluntary declarations of air purification equipment installed by catering premises will also be displayed on the list of licensed premises on the FEHD website for public reference.
(Hong Kong 01 drawing)
The plan ended on December 31, but since the launch of the plan in the middle of last month, as of the 26th of this month, only 55 restaurants in Hong Kong have participated in the plan for more than a month.
According to the information on the FEHD website, as of the end of last year, there were close to 16,000 restaurants with relevant licenses at the time. The participating restaurants only accounted for 0.35% of the total number of restaurants in Hong Kong.
However, it is unknown how many restaurants have been closed due to the epidemic this year, and the participation rate may be slightly underestimated.
Huang Jielong: The government needs to increase incentives such as promises not to restrict passenger restrictions too tightly
Huang Jielong, the chairman of the Xufulou Group and the chairman of the Rice Seedling Society, said that according to the legal requirements, the air exchange rate per hour is 20 and 15 respectively, which is much higher than that of the roast meat restaurant "Niu Jiao" and the hot pot restaurant "Niu Shabu". Six times as required by the plan; as for the Chinese restaurants and restaurants he runs, air cleaners have been installed.
Earlier, Professor Yuan Guoyong of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong also visited the restaurants under the Su Fu Lou Group to discuss issues such as commissioners and air exchange rates.
Huang Jielong asked several ventilation system engineering companies for quotations for this voluntary declaration plan. The price for checking and providing relevant information certificates was about 2,000 yuan.
Although its restaurants technically met the target, Huang Jielong did not participate in the plan in the end, saying bluntly that "there is no need."
He believes that the incentives of the plan are insufficient and the industry is not sufficiently encouraging. It is expected that the plan will be the same as the previous voluntary measures, and eventually only 10 to 20% of restaurants will participate.
He pointed out that if the government can increase incentives, such as promising to not require restaurants participating in the plan to suspend business during a pandemic outbreak, or not to restrict customer restrictions and time restrictions too tightly, I believe it will effectively attract industry participation.
Lin Ruihua: Unless the number of customers is allowed to return to normal after installing an air cleaner
Lin Ruihua, convener of the Hong Kong SME Food Store Alliance, said that smaller restaurants may not have space to install more air-conditioning and air purifiers. They may only be able to purchase floor fans instead of 6 ventilation per hour.
He said that if the entire fresh air extraction system is replaced, the cost will be as high as hundreds of thousands of yuan; the additional purchase of air purifiers will also cost at least thousands of yuan, which will place a heavy burden on small and medium-sized restaurants.
He also pointed out that the government did not provide any incentives or subsidies to the industry, questioned that the launch of the plan was only for "interaction", and bluntly said that "there is a reason to go to restaurants," unless the normal number of customers can be restored after installation.
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Huang Jiahe advocates the government to bear the cost of ventilation system engineering inspection
Huang Jiahe, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Catering Industry Association, said that the FEHD has not explained the details of the plan to the industry, and the industry is not clear about which contractors will accept the project and it is easy to "touch the nails".
He also said that the prices of air purification equipment and testing and inspection fees are not transparent, and the industry does not know how to make reasonable costs. He suggested that the FEHD should provide a list of qualified contractors and prices for reference.
Huang Jiahe also believes that the incentives for the plan are insufficient, and he hopes that the government can afford the testing and inspection costs of the ventilation system engineering company so that more restaurants are willing to purchase additional equipment.
Huang Jielong said that licensed restaurants need to look for ventilation system engineering inspections for renewal every year, saying with a smile, "If you don’t know, it’s just because you don’t know what to do. The reason is not enough."
The FEHD replied that a letter has been sent to the licensee of the catering premises to introduce the plan. If the licensee has any enquiries about the plan, he can call the staff of the district environmental hygiene office of the department.
Huang Jiahe, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Catering Industries, said that most restaurants have implemented a lot of anti-epidemic measures and agree that it is worth relaxing first.
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COVID-19 Food and Environmental Hygiene Department