Update | Filthy air to persist all weekend as pollution reaches most serious levels
Causeway Bay, Central, Mong Kok roadside pollution levels ‘serious’ on new air quality index
A dirty haze will continue to linger over Hong Kong all weekend, government officials have warned, after pollution readings again reached their most serious levels.
The Environmental Protection Department said higher than normal levels of air pollution would remain in place until rain offered relief early next week.
Yesterday, air quality at Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Sha Tin reached the most serious level on the new air quality health index (AQHI).
Roadside pollution levels in Causeway Bay, Central and Mong Kok also reached the top level in the AQHI, 10+, indicating a "serious" risk to health.
"It is expected that the pollution would persist at a level higher than normal," the Environmental Protection Department said in a statement.
The Observatory also expects hazy conditions to persist.
"The particulates and particles will accumulate over the territory because the winds are quite light," a spokeswoman said.
Launched this week, the index, analyses three-hour average concentrations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and tiny particles, using a scale from 1 to 10, and 10+. The level of pollutants is divided into five health-risk categories - low, moderate, high, very high and serious.
