Time to flush away deadly design faults in Hong Kong
- Sewage and drainage pipes in flats contributed to the vertical spread of Sars in 2003 and coronavirus 17 years later
Staying home is the best way to keep the Covid-19 virus at bay, so it would seem. But this is only true when residential buildings do not come with structural design issues or faulty sewage pipes.
Even though the problems have long been recognised as contributing factors to the outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in 2003 and the coronavirus epidemic since 2020, little has been done to solve them.
With infections in their tens of thousands each day this month, Hong Kong authorities can no longer tell how many were caused by the so-called vertical spread.
But there was evidence aplenty at the early stage of the fifth wave when the highly infectious Omicron variant prompted the evacuation of housing blocks in different districts.
Recent decisions not to send patients with mild symptoms to hospitals or quarantine centres means both the sick and healthy are staying home these days, raising the risk of cross-household transmissions.