Hong Kong entertainment venues linked to more ‘widespread dispersion’ of Covid-19 than households, eateries, study finds

Researchers say the number of strangers gathering in bars made the venues particularly prone to broader networks of infections in the first and second waves

However, preliminary data for the third wave shows the trend had diminished, hinting that ‘some measures were effective’

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Revellers gather at Lan Kwai Fong in Central late last month after social-distancing measures were relaxed. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 8:00pm, 18 Nov 2020Updated: 11:10pm, 18 Nov 2020

Bars and karaoke lounges were found to be particularly prone to the “widespread dispersion” of Covid-19 transmissions in Hong Kong’s first two waves of infections, a local study has found, with the so-called cascade of cases linked to entertainment venues accounting for 30 separate clusters in less than a month.

Researchers behind the Chinese University study noted that strangers gathering at entertainment venues had contributed to broader networks of cases, as compared to other common transmission settings such as households and eateries, which tended to see more limited spreads.

“People there do not know each other,” said Professor Lee Shui-shan, one of the lead authors of the study and the deputy director of the university’s centre for emerging infectious diseases. “If an infection happened there, the ability to spread the virus further would be much higher.”

“If you know those people at the site and you develop symptoms, you could notify them, and they could then go for testing,” added Professor Yeoh Eng-kiong, another author of the study and the director of the university’s centre for health systems and policy research.

People visit the CEO karaoke lounge in Wan Chai after it reopened to the public in September. Photo: Felix Wong

The study, which was published early this month in the journal Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific, reviewed 1,128 cases reported in Hong Kong in the city’s first and second waves of infection spanning from January 23 to June 19.