(STUDY FINDS) — HONG KONG — As health officials ponder the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, some areas are still in lockdown from the first one. Many are now asking if there is a better way to keep society moving while battling the coronavirus. One study claims there is — and it’s already worked in a major international city.
According to researchers in Hong Kong, a strategy focused on regular testing and contact tracing can control the spread of COVID-19 while being far less disruptive to society than a full lockdown. The study, published in The Lancet Public Health, looked at how the virus impacted the city from late January through March 31.
Researchers say the virus’s reproduction rate, the average number of people that can be infected by someone with COVID-19, did not rise during the eight-week period. Through March 31, Hong Kong had only 715 confirmed cases of the illness and four deaths in a population of about 7.5 million.
