Alfred Sit says more than 2.8m registered for free reusable mask

Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Alfred Sit Wing-hang, said today as at 8:00am this morning, 2.83 million Hong Kong people have registered for the reusable "CuMask+" face mask and that it is very popular among the general public.

Sit said the mask has passed tests and met standards, and he is very confident in its filtering capability, but added that it should only be worn in the community and not at hospitals or clinics.

As for worries about copper inside the mask will come off after cleaning and breathe in by users, he said this should not happen according to current information, and that the government is confirming with the raw material supplier.

Sit also said that tendering process might not be ideal and caused slight misunderstanding and doubts, and the government will try to disclose the necessary information to the public.

He explained that at the time, it was considered that it would be hard to obtain the raw materials after announcing details of the supplier as the local government could "snatch materials." But as the public wanted more information, he said the government decided to publish the relevant information after obtaining consent of the manufacturers.