Zhao Pengcheng
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
Build Simul. 2023;16(5):701-711. doi: 10.1007/s12273-022-0929-5. Epub 2022 Aug 31.
Multiple clusters of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hong Kong have involved vertical transmissions in residential buildings, wherein the flats of confirmed cases were often vertically aligned. Data on the buildings and cases associated with 19 such clusters were retrieved and compared with the corresponding data on the entirety of Hong Kong. Vertical transmissions usually occurred in old high-rise buildings with small flat areas and low estate prices during winter. In addition, infection occurred frequently among the elderly and among upstairs neighbours of index cases. Virus-laden aerosols may have been transmitted between flats mostly via shared drainpipes, and the vertical distribution of the confirmed cases in a building varied by its drainage system design. For buildings with their entire drainpipes installed indoors, both the upstairs and downstairs neighbours of the index case flats could be infected. By comparison, buildings with their drainage stacks installed outdoors had lower infection risks and demonstrated a clearer pattern of vertical transmission: most infected cases resided upstairs from the index case flats, indicating that the virus spread could be dominated by the stack effect. This study provides valuable data and analysis for developing epidemic control strategies for residential buildings.
The Appendix is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s12273-022-0929-5.
香港的多起2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）聚集性疫情涉及住宅楼宇内的垂直传播，确诊病例的公寓往往呈垂直排列。检索了与19起此类聚集性疫情相关的建筑物和病例数据，并与香港整体的相应数据进行了比较。垂直传播通常发生在冬季的老旧高层住宅中，这些住宅公寓面积小且房价低。此外，感染在老年人以及首例病例的楼上邻居中频繁发生。携带病毒的气溶胶可能主要通过共用排水管在公寓之间传播，建筑物内确诊病例的垂直分布因其排水系统设计而异。对于排水管全部安装在室内的建筑物，首例病例公寓的楼上和楼下邻居都可能被感染。相比之下，排水立管安装在室外的建筑物感染风险较低，并且呈现出更清晰的垂直传播模式：大多数感染病例位于首例病例公寓的楼上，这表明病毒传播可能受烟囱效应主导。本研究为制定住宅楼宇的疫情防控策略提供了有价值的数据和分析。
电子补充材料ESM：附录可在本文在线版本中获取，链接为10.1007/s12273-022-0929-5。
