ArticleBuilding and environment2022
Explosive outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is associated with vertical transmission in high-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong.
Article in Building and environment, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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10 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Variability in the Population Diffusion Patterns of SARS-CoV-2 by Exposure Setting and Its Roles in Driving Epidemic Dynamics.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2025Article
- Assessing vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in high-rise apartments via a joint epidemiologic and modeling investigation.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Preparation for the next pandemic: challenges in strengthening surveillance.Emerging microbes & infections · 2023Article
- Correlations of Myeloperoxidase (MPO), Adenosine deaminase (ADA), C-C motif chemokine 22 (CCL22), Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA expression in the nasopharyngeal specimens with the diagnosis and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections.Emerging microbes & infections · 2023Article
- Use of high flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 outside intensive care setting.Journal of thoracic disease · 2023Article
- Infection of healthcare workers despite a high vaccination rate during the fifth wave of COVID-19 due to Omicron variant in Hong Kong.Infection prevention in practice · 2023Article
- Real-world COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the Omicron BA.2 variant in a SARS-CoV-2 infection-naive population.Nature medicine · 2023Article
- Impacts of social distancing, rapid antigen test and vaccination on the Omicron outbreak during large temperature variations in Hong Kong: A modelling study.Journal of infection and public health · 2022Article
- Evolution and Control of COVID-19 Epidemic in Hong Kong.Viruses · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The phenomenon of vertical transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in high-rise residential buildings (HRRBs) is unique in our densely populated cosmopolitan city. The compulsory testing of a whole building under the scheme of restriction-testing declaration (RTD) during the fourth wave (non-Omicron variant) and fifth wave (mostly Omicron variant) of COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong allowed us to study the prevalence of this phenomenon, which may represent a form of airborne transmission. From 23 January 2021 to 24 March 2022, 25,450 (5.8%) of 436,397 residents from 223 (63.0%) of 354 HRRBs under RTD were test-positive for SARS-CoV-2. Using the clustering of cases among vertically aligned flats with shared drainage stack and lightwell as a surrogate marker of vertical transmission, the number of vertically aligned flats with positive COVID-19 cases was significantly higher in the fifth wave compared with the fourth wave (14.2%, 6471/45,531 vs 0.24%, 3/1272; p < 0.001; or 2212 vs 1 per-million-flats; p < 0.001). Excluding 22,801 residents from 38 HRRBs who were tested negative outside the 12-week periods selected in fourth and fifth waves, the positive rate among residents was significantly higher among residents during the fifth wave than the fourth wave (6.5%, 25,434/389,700 vs 0.07%, 16/23,896; p < 0.001). Within the flats with COVID-19 cases, the proportion of vertically aligned flats was also significantly higher in the fifth wave than in the fourth wave (95.6%, 6471/6766 vs 30.0%, 3/10, p < 0.001). The proportion of HRRBs with COVID-19 cases was significantly higher during the corresponding 12-week period chosen for comparison (78.2%, 219/280 vs 11.1%, 4/36; p < 0.001). Whole-genome phylogenetic analysis of 332 viral genomes showed that Omicron BA.2 was the predominant strain, supporting the high transmissibility of BA.2 by airborne excreta-aerosol route in HRRBs of Hong Kong.
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