Poor air quality to persist in Hong Kong over the weekend as air mass with pollutants affects city
Authorities warn conditions will remain until next week when winds bring relief
The air quality in Hong Kong on Friday worsened progressively with the city’s pollution index hitting the highest level of 10+ at nine monitoring stations by evening and posing a “serious” health risk.
By 10pm, the level had dropped to between 8 and 9 at those stations, meaning there was a “very high” health risk from pollutants in the air.
The highest reading at night was at Tai Po, followed by stations such as Central/Western, Causeway Bay, Mong Kok, Eastern, Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long.
Earlier in the day, the Environmental Protection Department issued a warning that air quality would remain bad till next week.
It said light winds were unable to effectively disperse the pollutants in the air.
“The sunshine enhances photochemical smog activity and the formation of ozone and fine particulates, resulting in high pollution in the Pearl River Delta region,” it added.
