Scientific research

The impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on reducing transmission of COVID-19 and influenza in Hong Kong

In a paper published in Lancet Public Health, HKU School of Public Health researchers assessed the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against COVID-19 and influenza in Hong Kong in early February. The research team analysed data on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, influenza surveillance data in outpatients of all ages, and influenza hospitalisations in children and conducted telephone surveys at three different time points to review people’s behavioural changes over the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. They found that COVID-19 transmissibility and influenza transmission both remained stable or declined substantially after the implementation of social distancing measures and changes in population behaviours in late January. This study helped to show the association between NPIs and the reduction in the transmission of COVID-19 and influenza in Hong Kong.

Read more about this paper here:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30090-6/fulltext

# control and mitigation measures