Does housing status matter? Evidence from Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong

Face-fo-face contact is known to be the primary transmission route of the Covid-19 virus. Social norm and positional good theories suggest that people would interact with others selectively in order to fulfil social needs and prevent infections simultaneously. Previous studies focus on the impact of conventional social status factors (e.g., income and occupation) on virus transmission. It is unclear whether housing status, as another proxy of social status, also plays a role. This article thus makes use of three salient housing features – housing price, ownership rate, and wealth gap – to elucidate housing status and its link to public health. We combine the data of Covid-19 cases, housing transactions, and Census statistics to quantitatively estimate the association between housing status and Covid-19 infections at the street block level in Hong Kong from January 2020 to December 2021. It is found that among infected neighbourhoods, those with lower housing prices, lower ownership share, and less variation in housing wealth face a larger risk of Covid-19 infections. The potential circular causation between housing status and viral transmission highlights the need for better coordination between public health and housing policies.