Safety shines in homes

A force of 120 volunteers are helping residents disinfect subdivided flats with ultraviolet light.

Researchers at Lingnan University said yesterday they had designed and assembled 30 mobile UVC germicidal lights, capable of killing 95 percent of known viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Teams of volunteers take from five to 30 minutes on visits to 1,200 subdivided flats.

Launched in mid-April, the teams had sanitized 150 units as of Tuesday. Most of the 450 households that applied for the free service live in Kwun Tong, Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po.

Such residents feel the strains of the pandemic particularly hard as they tend to suffer from poor sanitation and lack of space in addition to the challenge of finding money for masks and disinfectant.

Experts also worry that many plumbing systems in subdivided flats units were built without U-bends to accommodate more toilets.

According to project leader Albert Ko Wing-yin, the device is designed especially to clean cramped spaces.

"Killing the virus is a priority concern in these units," said Ko, also director of Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative. "I hope in the next stage we can provide a regular disinfection service to subdivided flats and even small houses."

The project has received a HK$500,000 donation from the Jockey Club's Covid-19 Emergency Fund.

Anyone living in such homes is entitled to apply online for the service, though priority goes to households with children, elderly or people with chronic illnesses and for units with poor drainage systems.

The club also aset up a new HK$150 million Community Sustainability Fund to provide grants to small- to medium-sized community service agencies and sports organizations to design and deliver services that improve bodies and minds of underprivileged and vulnerable groups impacted by the pandemic.

Applications for funding open today and close on July 15.

Also in the front line, more Maxim's restaurants have applied a disinfection coating developed at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The coating, rated 99.9 percent effective against Covid-19, have been applied to fittings and equipment like tables, chairs and trays in 10 Maxim's eateries in Central, Causeway Bay, Mong Kok, Kwai Fong and Ma On Shan.

The coating is also being used in hospitals, homes for the elderly and schools.