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Volume 14
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10.3390/v14112519
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Review

Evolution and Control of COVID-19 Epidemic in Hong Kong

by
Shuk-Ching Wong
1,
Albert Ka-Wing Au
2,
Janice Yee-Chi Lo
2,
Pak-Leung Ho
3,4,
Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung
5,
Kelvin Kai-Wang To
3,
Kwok-Yung Yuen
3 and
Vincent Chi-Chung Cheng
1,6,*
1
Infection Control Team, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong West Cluster, Hong Kong SAR, China
2
Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, Hong Kong SAR, China
3
Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
4
Carol Yu Center for Infection, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
5
Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
6
Department of Microbiology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Viruses 2022, 14(11), 2519; https://doi.org/10.3390/v14112519
Submission received: 20 October 2022 / Revised: 10 November 2022 / Accepted: 11 November 2022 / Published: 14 November 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What SARS-CoV-2 Variants Have Taught Us: Evolutionary Challenges of RNA Viruses)
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Abstract

Hong Kong SAR has adopted universal masking, social distancing, testing of all symptomatic and high-risk groups for isolation of confirmed cases in healthcare facilities, and quarantine of contacts as epidemiological control measures without city lockdown or border closure. These measures successfully suppressed the community transmission of pre-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants or lineages during the first to the fourth wave. No nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection was documented among healthcare workers in the first 300 days. The strategy of COVID-19 containment was adopted to provide additional time to achieve population immunity by vaccination. The near-zero COVID-19 situation for about 8 months in 2021 did not enable adequate immunization of the eligible population. A combination of factors was identified, especially population complacency associated with the low local COVID-19 activity, together with vaccine hesitancy. The importation of the highly transmissible Omicron variant kickstarted the fifth wave of COVID-19, which could no longer be controlled by our initial measures. The explosive fifth wave, which was partially contributed by vertical airborne transmission in high-rise residential buildings, resulted in over one million cases of infection. In this review, we summarize the epidemiology of COVID-19 and the infection control and public health measures against the importation and dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 until day 1000.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; variants; infection control COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; variants; infection control

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MDPI and ACS Style

Wong, S.-C.; Au, A.K.-W.; Lo, J.Y.-C.; Ho, P.-L.; Hung, I.F.-N.; To, K.K.-W.; Yuen, K.-Y.; Cheng, V.C.-C. Evolution and Control of COVID-19 Epidemic in Hong Kong. Viruses 2022, 14, 2519. https://doi.org/10.3390/v14112519

AMA Style

Wong S-C, Au AK-W, Lo JY-C, Ho P-L, Hung IF-N, To KK-W, Yuen K-Y, Cheng VC-C. Evolution and Control of COVID-19 Epidemic in Hong Kong. Viruses. 2022; 14(11):2519. https://doi.org/10.3390/v14112519

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wong, Shuk-Ching, Albert Ka-Wing Au, Janice Yee-Chi Lo, Pak-Leung Ho, Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung, Kelvin Kai-Wang To, Kwok-Yung Yuen, and Vincent Chi-Chung Cheng. 2022. "Evolution and Control of COVID-19 Epidemic in Hong Kong" Viruses 14, no. 11: 2519. https://doi.org/10.3390/v14112519

APA Style

Wong, S.-C., Au, A. K.-W., Lo, J. Y.-C., Ho, P.-L., Hung, I. F.-N., To, K. K.-W., Yuen, K.-Y., & Cheng, V. C.-C. (2022). Evolution and Control of COVID-19 Epidemic in Hong Kong. Viruses, 14(11), 2519. https://doi.org/10.3390/v14112519

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