'Don't Hold The Handrails, If In Mid-Levels'

If you are at the Mid-Levels and using the popular escalator there, here is a warning from DAB – don't hold the handrails. Or at least wash your hands, as soon as you get off it.

The city's biggest pro-Beijing party said on Monday that they have run a few tests on the escalator handrails and they can be dirtier than toilet seats. But the party said they are not sure how it will affect people's health as there no guidelines available.

One swab from a handrail on the escalator connecting Caine Road and Mosque Street showed a reading of 1,900 colony-forming units (CFU) per square metre, said DAB community officer Samuel Mok. A domestic toilet seat has around 1,200, he said.

The party commissioned tests on the escalators back in May, swabbing the handrails on a weekday morning. Mok also touched handrails on all 19 escalators in the system, and had his palm swabbed afterwards.

According to their study, the Caine Road to Mosque Street escalator's handrail was the dirtiest. Mok’s palm swab there showed a reading that was equal to that of a toilet seat.

DAB said similar handrail studies at Sha Tin MTR station and New Town Plaza in Sha Tin showed the counts there were way below these findings.

The party said there are no local or international standards to say how much bacteria on such surfaces is too much, so they can’t say if the escalators handrails can affect people’s health. But they advised people who use the escalators to wash their hands before eating.

Mok said they’ll speak with the government about cleaning the escalators more frequently.

“At the moment, as I understand, the cleaning frequency is about one time a week – which is insufficient, no matter for the residents or for us,” he said.

The party will also urge authorities to adopt new technology that kills germs with ultraviolet radiation.

The Transport Department says the escalators are among the busiest in Hong Kong, with around 78,000 people using them each day.