COVID-19 transmission in Hong Kong despite universal masking.
J Infect
; 83(1): 92-95, 2021 07.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33895227
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
mask-wearing outside the home has been almost universal in Hong Kong since late January 2020 with very high compliance. Nevertheless, community spread of COVID-19 has still occurred. We aimed to assess the settings where COVID-19 transmission occurred and determine the fraction of transmission events that occurred in settings where masks are not usually worn.METHODS:
we reviewed detailed information provided by the Hong Kong Department of Health on local COVID-19 cases diagnosed up to 30 September 2020 to determine the most likely settings in which transmission occurred. We classified them in probably mask-on or mask-of and compared the prevalence of asymptomatic infections in these settings.RESULTS:
among the 2425 cases (65.3%, 2425/3711) with information on transmission setting, 77.6% of the transmission occurred in household and social settings where face masks are not usually worn. Infections that occurred in mask-on settings were more likely to be asymptomatic (adjusted odds ratio 1.33; 95% confidence interval 1.04, 1.68).CONCLUSIONS:
we conclude that universal mask-wearing can reduce transmission, but transmission can continue to occur in settings where face masks are not usually worn. The higher proportion of asymptomatic cases in mask-on settings could be related to a milder disease presentation or earlier case detection.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
País como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article