Advertisement
Coronavirus in your toilet? How a Hong Kong policy change on pipes may have caused this
- Public housing tenants were not allowed to modify bathroom pipes until August 2016
- Reclassification may have allowed coronavirus to travel 10 storeys down in a Tsing Yi housing estate
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A Housing Department policy change has allowed tenants in government flats to alter the pipe design in their bathrooms since 2016, a problem which might have helped the faster spread of the deadly new coronavirus which led to an evacuation of a Tsing Yi housing block on Tuesday, the Post has found.
Opened to residents in 1986, Hong Mei House is one of 13 blocks of flats on the Cheung Hong Estate. The 35-storey building is made up of 840 units in three wings, dubbed a Y2 design.
According to the original design of the bathroom, the toilet is located in the centre of the unit, with all outlets, including the waste pipe and vent pipe exposed and connected with the bowl.
Advertisement
Similar pipe designs can be found in 48 other public housing estates in the city.
Advertisement
On Tuesday the city’s 42nd case of coronavirus infection involved a 62-year-old woman who lives in flat 307, on the third floor of A wing in Hong Mei House. She was linked to an earlier confirmed case of a man, 75, who lived 10 floors above her in flat 1307.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x