Elderly Care Home

Characterized by the crowding environment and the necessity of close contact between people in the Elderly care home (hereinafter as “RCH”), making it the most susceptible for wide spreading of infectious diseases (especially for airborne diseases such as the COVID-19 coronavirus). In addition, most of the physical health conditions of the elderly are relatively weak, which is also one of the main reasons for the outbreak of large-scale cluster infections. The source of infection could possibly be the staff, visitors, or residents (such as residents who have just returned from the hospital), among which the isolation ward, feeding area, office and visiting room are the higher risk areas in RCH.

Ventilation subsidy to Elderly care homes provided by the Government

In order to help the RCH to cope with the epidemic by improving the ventilation and reducing the cross-infection risk of airborne transmission, the Social Welfare Department has launched the " Time-limited Programme on Enhancing Infection Control and Ventilation of Elderly Care Home ", and arranged relevant technical personnel to conduct on-site ventilation assessments for RC and make recommendations on ventilation improvement.

At the same time, SWD has provided a special subsidy for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating subverted or contract RCHs to facilitate the arrangements for conducting the ventilation assessments under the programme at their RCHs.

New Guidelines: Elderly Care Home Need Regular Ventilation Assessments

In order to further monitor the ventilation of RCH, the government has introduced new guidelines, stating that residential buildings must hire qualified RSC(V) specialized contractors (sub-list of ventilation system engineering categories) to conduct a comprehensive ventilation system assessment every year, and appropriate improvements ought to be made according to the submitted ventilation report, and finally the contractor will issue a certificate of compliance for the ventilation system.

Elderly Care Home Ventilation Parameter Standards

Standards are list as follow:

Item Ventilation Parameter Suggested Standard
1 Fresh air supply requirement for place in Elderly care home At least 10 liters of fresh air per second per person
2 The distance between the fresh air inlet and other pollution area At least 7.5 meters
3 Requirement for wind direction Clean area -> Polluted area -> Extracted by air extraction system
4 Ventilation requirements for isolation facilities Must be negative pressure Minimum 10 liters of fresh air per person per second
5 Toilet/bathroom ventilation requirement Minimum 10 air changes per hour (extraction)
6 Kitchen ventilation requirement At least 5 air changes per hour
7 Eating area requirement Minimum 4 air changes per hour (fresh air)
8 Laundry room ventilation requirement Minimum 10 air changes per hour

One-stop service to improve indoor air quality

CHAMPURE provides one-stop service, including but not limited to:

  • Arrange a qualified RSC(V) specialized contractors (sub-register of ventilation system engineering category) to conduct on-site inspections in RCHs, and evaluate the status of the on-site ventilation system according to the actual situation
  • Provide test reports to the RCH, which list out the status of the ventilation system of the premises and provide improvement plans and suggestions
  • Provide ventilation system improvement works, and arrange ventilation contractors to conduct re-inspection to ensure the fulfillment of the specific requirements of the report
  • Issues a ventilation certificate to the RCH by the registered Qualified RSC(V) Specialist Contractors

Job References