Environmental contamination of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare premises. Issue 2 (August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ye, Guangming; Lin, Hualiang; Chen, Song; Wang, Shichan; Zeng, Zhikun; Wang, Wei; Zhang, Shiyu; Rebmann, Terri; Li, Yirong; Pan, Zhenyu; Yang, Zhonghua; Wang, Ying; Wang, Fubing; Qian, Zhengmin; Wang, Xinghuan
• Is Part Of: Journal of infection. Volume 81:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: e1
• Page End: e5
• Publication Date: 2020-08
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- Wuhan -- China -- Hospital environmental contamination; Infection -- Periodicals; Bacterial Infections -- Periodicals; Communicable Diseases -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2020.04.034
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0163-4453

Abstract

Highlights: Hospital environment was contaminated when providing care to COVID-19 patients. Contaminated surfaces included COVID-19 patient care areas, hospital objects, and PPE. Hospital environment could be a source of virus spread among HCWs and patients. Contacting with contaminated surfaces may account for the early cases in HWCs. Abstract: Objectives: A large number of healthcare workers (HCWs) were infected by SARS-CoV-2 during the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. Hospitals are significant epicenters for the human-to-human transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 for HCWs, patients, and visitors. No data has been reported on the details of hospital environmental contamination status in the epicenter of Wuhan. Methods: We collected 626 surface swabs within the Zhongnan Medical Center in Wuhan in the mist of the COVID-19 outbreak between February 7 - February 27, 2020. Dacron swabs were aseptically collected from the surfaces of 13 hospital function zones, five major objects, and three major PPE. The SARS-CoV-2 RNAs were detected by reverse transcription-PCR. Results: The most contaminated zones were the intensive care unit specialized for taking care of novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) (31.9%), Obstetric Isolation Ward specialized for pregnant women with NCP (28.1%), and Isolation Ward for NCP (19.6%). We classified the 13 zones into four contamination levels. The most contaminated objects were self-service printers (20.0%), desktop/keyboard (16.8%), and doorknob (16.0%). Both hand sanitizer dispensers (20.3%) and gloves (15.4%) were the most contaminated PPE. Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the urgent need to ensure adequate environmental cleaning, strengthen infection prevention training, and improve infection prevention among HCWs during the outbreak of COVID-19.