How sewage surveillance lit Hong Kong’s pandemic path
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Case Studies
Dr Samuel HK Chui explains how using wastewater surveillance in Hong Kong to help manage the spread of COVID-19 was like driving with the lights on.
Despite being a busy international aviation hub with a very crowded living environment, Hong Kong managed to maintain a very low infection rate in the first four waves of the COVID-19 outbreak. This was down to the strong public awareness of personal hygiene and effective implementation of city-scale non-pharmaceutical intervention measures. However, the unexpectedly high transmission rate during the onset of the fifth wave of COVID-19 from early 2022 put the city at risk.
On 1 February 2022 there were about 100 new cases per day. By comparison, on 3 March 2022 this increased to 77,000 new cases per day at its peak – 1% of the city’s total population.
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https://www.thesourcemagazine.org/how-sewage-surveillance-lit-hong-kongs-pandemic-pathTaxonomy
- Public Health
- Covid-19