Hari Krishnan R, SRM Institute of Science and Technology
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic originated in 2019 and has affected people worldwide in various aspects. Now, with the arrival of vaccinations and better precautions, the pandemic is under control in various parts of the world. Scientists have spent day and night working to obtain a better understanding of the virus and its features, including transmission rate among others.
An epidemiological study, performed by a team of scientists from Hong Kong, addressed the continued transmission of disease despite universal masking. Wearing proper facemasks is one of the most important precautions to be taken as it reduces the escape of contaminated aerosols from the infected people, thereby reducing transmission. After the first case of COVID-19 in Hong Kong was detected on 23 January 2020, there have been strict monitoring and control measures to prevent local transmission. Due to the increasing cases, the Government of Hong Kong made it mandatory to wear face masks in public from 22 July 2020 onwards. People took precautions and followed the protocol of wearing masks. But despite that, Hong Kong had confirmed 9798 cases and 166 deaths by January 2021.
The study
The study in discussion aimed to monitor and determine the transmission events that occurred in settings where a mask was not used. The settings of this study included people separated by age, gender, occupation, and symptoms.
By using the data provided by the Hongkong health department regarding the total confirmed cases till the end of September 2020, various statistical analysis was carried out by comparing characteristics of various cases in different settings. Also examined were the prevalence of asymptomatic disease in mask-on and mask-off settings.
Observations
A total of 2425 confirmed cases were taken into consideration.
- Mask-off setting: Out of 2425 confirmed cases, 1882 (72%) cases occurred in a mask-off setting. It was found out that around 56% (1367/2425) transmission occurred in household settings where people usually don’t wear masks. In mask-off settings, the COVID-19 transmission mostly occurred in younger people (94%) who are less than 19 years of age.
The study also showed that out of the 1882 cases in mask-off setting, 362 (19%) were asymptomatic cases, and out of 543 cases in mask-on setting, 129 (24%) were asymptomatic. This showed that infections occurring during mask-on settings are more likely to be asymptomatic.
- Mask-on setting: Statistical analysis in the mask-on setting showed that workplaces were the most common transmission setting (316/2425, 13%), followed by care homes (6%). Interestingly, only a very few cases were associated with healthcare (1.3%), schools (0.2%), and transportation (<0.1%).
The study of cases from January 2020 to September 2020 was divided into 2 phases. The first phase was from 23 January to 30 April. During this phase, it was found that COVID-19 transmission was more common (89%), out of which 59% were in the social setting and 29% in households. This was probably due to the lack of awareness during the initial phase of the pandemic.
Transmission during the second phase (1 May to 30 September) was comparatively less (76%). But the household transmission was the majority in the second phase with over 60% of the cases, followed by social settings (16%).
Results
The statistics of this study showed that nearly 78% of COVID-19 transmissions occurred in settings where people didn’t wear masks. Households and social settings were the most common places of transmission. The prevalence of asymptomatic cases is more common in people who wear masks, the reason for which would be early detection of the disease or milder disease presentation. Despite the universal masking protocols, around 22% of transmission occurred in mask settings and this shows that wearing facemasks is not sufficient to stop the spread of disease. A few reasons for this would be to consider the effectiveness, improper handling, filtration efficiency, and quality of masks.
Also read: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy – “Breaking hearts” linked to Covid
References
- Martín-Sánchez, M., Lim, W. W., Yeung, A., Adam, D. C., Ali, S. T., Lau, E., Wu, P., Yuen, K. Y., Leung, G. M., & Cowling, B. J. (2021). COVID-19 transmission in Hong Kong despite universal masking. The Journal of infection, 83(1), 92–95. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2021.04.019
- Why Do We Age? The Biology Of Ageing Explained
- The Corrosion Prediction from the Corrosion Product Performance
- Nitrogen Resilience in Waterlogged Soybean plants
- Cell Senescence in Type II Diabetes: Therapeutic Potential
- Transgene-Free Canker-Resistant Citrus sinensis with Cas12/RNP
About Author-
Hari Krishnan is a research enthusiast in Cell biology and Cell signalling. He is currently a final year Biotechnology Engineering student. He is a prolific Scientific writer with vast knowledge in diverse backgrounds of biotechnology. He is constantly focused on improving his knowledge and laboratory skills through various internships. A Chennai native, Hari is a spicy food lover and passionate about music and sports.
Publications:
- Krishnan, R. H. (2021). Comparison of the Drug Entrapment Efficiency of Almond Gum (Badam Pisin) to Span-60 Niosomes by Folin-Ciocalteu Assay. bioRxiv preprint- https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.03.438312v1
- https://irjmets.com/rootaccess/forms/uploads/IRJMETS273039.pdf
The current Ebola Epidemic comes to an end
Soumya Shraddhya Paul, Amity University Noida On Saturday, WHO official Alfred Ki-Zerbo declared the end of the current Ebola epidemic. After Guinea defeated the second Ebola outbreak that erupted in the West African states on February 14th, 2021 which infected around 16 people and claimed the life of 12, the second wave is reported to […]