Hong Kong fourth wave: coronavirus infections in old buildings, subdivided flats – is a new approach needed?
- A fast-growing outbreak in ageing tenement buildings in Jordan is at the centre of calls for a more proactive approach
- One expert says a single infection in such a building should be enough to trigger mandatory testing given the inherent risks
The concern centred on fears over what was perceived by critics as a delayed response in tackling growing clusters in aged tenement blocks in Yau Tsim Mong district in the past week. This was despite government efforts to ramp up mandatory testing to cover bigger swathes of housing instead of individual blocks.
Late on Friday, the health department said it was taking the “exceptional” measure of issuing an isolation order for four residential blocks along Reclamation Street in Yau Tsim Mong district, where a cluster of infections is growing, in order to better carry out contact tracing. The step marked the first time authorities had effectively locked down entire buildings since the pandemic began last year.
The recent infections in tenement blocks at 20, 22, 24 and 26 Reclamation Street in Jordan also sparked an order for large-scale screening in the district.
“There are lots of old buildings in Hong Kong which could be potential outbreak sites. If a person there is a Covid-19 patient, the environment could easily amplify the problem and become a super-spreading site,” infectious disease specialist Dr Joseph Tsang Kay-yan said.
“Such living environments are crowded, there is a lack of maintenance, and the prevalence of subdivided units means illegal changes in flat structure and pipes are common.”