The Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre urged members of the public in a statement yesterday to take precautions in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in their buildings.
The centre pointed out that since the first case of COVID-19 in the current outbreak was detected on June 18, it found that most of the cases occurred among close contacts, such as people living together, eating and drinking in the same space, or having activities in the same area without wearing a facemask, adding that some people testing positive were found to be living in the same building.
The statement noted that many COVID-19 cases were detected on the same floor or in units opposite other units in buildings close to others.
However, the statement underlined, there has been no “significant” evidence pointing to COVID-19 cases being transmitted across balconies or through drainage pipes.
Considering that residents living on the same floor, or in units located closely to each other are more likely to contact each other, the centre urged the public to take novel coronavirus prevention measures by putting on their facemasks when leaving their own flat, especially when a COVID-19 case has been detected in the building, adding that they should always wear their KN95 facemask or one with a higher standard when sharing the lift with others, and they should not enter the lift when there are many people inside.
The centre also urged people not to touch the surfaces of buildings’ communal areas, such as doorknobs and lift buttons, adding that they should clean their hands immediately after touching outside surfaces, and they should not touch their eyes, nose or mouth before washing their hands.
In order to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in buildings, the centre urged residents to pour water into the floor drains every day to prevent the U-bend from drying up, while maintaining good indoor air ventilation. The centre added that the fresh air in the unit should be replenished through doors and windows facing open areas, and avoid opening doors and windows facing other flats in the building.
The centre also urged people to keep their flat’s air extraction device always turned on if the device for the exhaust pipe of the building is used without a backflow prevention machine, so as to prevent air flowing from other units into the flat.
Moreover, as a way to avoid negative pressure in the drains, the centre urged residents to “half-open” the doors and windows that do not face other units, if the exhaust fan in a small room, such as the toilet and the kitchen, is turned on so that there will be a flow of air.
