China’s State Council introduced the progress of the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic at a news conference held on Sunday afternoon.

As for whether air purifiers can filter viruses, Feng Luzhao, a researcher with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that the air purifiers commonly sold on the market are only composed of a fan and filter device. These kinds of air purifiers are mainly used to remove certain pollutants in the air, but they have no requirements for sterilization ratio of viruses or other pathogenic microorganisms in the product standard requirements, so air purifiers may not be able to filter the viruses.

“It is suggested that the family should ventilate the room every day, either through natural ventilation or mechanical ventilation,” said Feng.