The purpose of this study is to explore the environmental quality and hygiene in crowded living environments, subdivided units in Hong Kong. Subdivided units are an emerging form of housing environment for the urban poor. It is hypothesised that subdivided unit residents have a higher risk of exposure to poor hygiene conditions but no measurement has ever been taken to test this hypothesis. Twenty questionnaires and environmental assessments were conducted. Dominant bacterial species were identified as Micrococcus luteus and Staphylococcus spp., and the microbial counts were correlated with building, occupants and environmental parameters. Driven by the high bacterial counts and poor hygiene observation, eight subdivided units were selected for endotoxin, glucan and allergen analysis in bed and floor dust. Total airborne bacterial counts and endotoxin and glucan in dust were found at very high levels in some subdivided units, while unexpectedly, the allergen and mould levels were low. In crowded environments the skin bacteria may mislead the environmental and atmospheric bacterial contamination. Outdoor microbial pollution and deteriorated building conditions can be the main source of indoor contamination. 'Good' or 'Excellent' class of bacterial counts satisfying the Indoor Air Quality Objective does not guarantee a low endotoxin and glucan level.

No abstract

No abstract

Quantifying the timing and content of policy changes affecting international travel and immigration is key to ongoing research on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the socioeconomic impacts of border closures. The COVID Border Accountability Project (COBAP) provides a hand-coded dataset of >1000 policies systematized to reflect a complete timeline of country-level restrictions on movement across international borders during 2020. Trained research assistants used pre-set definitions to source, categorize and verify for each new border policy: start and end dates, whether the closure is “complete” or “partial”, which exceptions are made, which countries are banned, and which air/land/sea borders were closed. COBAP verified the database through internal and external audits from public health experts. For purposes of further verification and future data mining efforts of pandemic research, the full text of each policy was archived. The structure of the COBAP dataset is designed for use by social and biomedical scientists. For broad accessibility to policymakers and the public, our website depicts the data in an interactive, user-friendly, time-based map.

No abstract