Air, Surface Environmental, and Personal Protective Equipment Contamination by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) From a Symptomatic Patient

JAMA Published online March 4, 2020

Sean Wei Xiang Ong, MBBS Yian Kim Tan, PhD

Po Ying Chia, MBBS

Tau Hong Lee, MBBS

Oon Tek Ng, MBBS, MPH

Michelle Su Yen Wong, PhD

Kalisvar Marimuthu, MBBS

JAMA proposes a short research letter from a Singapore group on 3 COVID19 patients, which is of some interest because of careful study of infection and transmission of the virus, with particular reference to environmental contamination.

Understanding the way the virus spreads is of utmost importance in terms of prevention and containment, and the researchers were sampling either air and surfaces of isolation rooms. The same search was performed also after deep cleaning, with interesting results.

Environmental contamination is high, including toilets, despite all three patients showed mild symptoms; the good news is that airborne contamination seems to be less important than predicted and that deep cleaning almost zeroes viral load.

Despite its limitations, the study highlights the importance of prevention and how simple behaviors, such as safety distance and careful hands cleaning, are effective in limiting infection spreading. Hygiene protocol strict adherence is of utmost importance in this phase of the COVID19 pandemic.

You can read the full research paper on the JAMA website: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762692?resultClick=1