Residential Clustering of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Cases and Efficiency of Building-Wide Compulsory Testing Notices

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 1, 2025

Large-Scale SARS-CoV-2 Testing Utilizing Saliva and Transposition Sample Pooling
08:26

Large-Scale SARS-CoV-2 Testing Utilizing Saliva and Transposition Sample Pooling

Published on: June 23, 2022

1.8K

Benjamin R Young1, Bingyi Yang1, Peng Wu1,2

  • 1World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.

The Journal of Infectious Diseases
|April 24, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Compulsory testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hong Kong identified 13% of daily cases. While useful early on, this strategy showed limited efficiency against widespread community transmission.

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Hong Kong implemented compulsory testing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Understanding the effectiveness of these measures is crucial for public health strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the frequency of residential clusters of COVID-19 cases.
  • To assess the efficiency of compulsory testing in identifying new COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of buildings with COVID-19 cases targeted by compulsory testing.
  • Matching of identified cases with locally infected individuals residing in the same buildings.
  • Calculation of the percentage of daily cases detected through compulsory testing.

Main Results:

  • Over 55% of buildings with COVID-19 cases reported only a single case.
  • Compulsory testing detected approximately 13% of daily reported COVID-19 cases.
  • The strategy was less efficient in sustained community transmission scenarios.

Conclusions:

  • Residential case clusters were common, with most buildings having only one reported case.
  • Compulsory testing played a role in early epidemic containment but showed diminishing returns during sustained transmission.
  • The findings suggest a need for adaptive testing strategies based on transmission levels.

Keywords:
COVID-19case clustershigh-rise buildings

More Related Videos

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs07:13

Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs

Published on: April 9, 2021

4.3K
Quantification and Whole Genome Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater and Air Samples09:26

Quantification and Whole Genome Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater and Air Samples

Published on: June 30, 2023

1.2K

Related Concept Videos

Contingency Table01:29

Contingency Table

A contingency table provides a way of portraying data that can facilitate calculating probabilities. It is a method of displaying a frequency distribution as a table with rows and columns to show how two variables may be dependent (contingent) upon each other; The table helps determine conditional probabilities quite quickly and can help systematically organize, analyze and quantify data. The table displays sample values concerning two variables that may be dependent or contingent on one...
2.6K
Residuals and Least-Squares Property01:11

Residuals and Least-Squares Property

The vertical distance between the actual value of y and the estimated value of y. In other words, it measures the vertical distance between the actual data point and the predicted point on the line
If the observed data point lies above the line, the residual is positive, and the line underestimates the actual data value for y. If the observed data point lies below the line, the residual is negative, and the line overestimates the actual data value for y.
The process of fitting the best-fit...
7.6K
Steps in Outbreak Investigation01:18

Steps in Outbreak Investigation

In the ever-evolving field of public health, statistical analysis serves as a cornerstone for understanding and managing disease outbreaks. By leveraging various statistical tools, health professionals can predict potential outbreaks, analyze ongoing situations, and devise effective responses to mitigate impact. For that to happen, there are a few possible stages of the analysis:
155