Aerosol and Surface Distribution of SARs-CoV-2 in Hospital Wards

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In a hospital treating COVID-19 patients, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found widely distributed in surface and air samples.

Contamination was greater in intensive care units (54/124 samples) than general wards (9/114 samples).

A 100% rate of positivity was found on the floor in the pharmacy, where there were no patients.

Half of the samples from the soles of the ICU medical staff shoes tested positive.

The rate of positivity was relatively high for floor swab samples (ICU 7/10; general ward 2/13).

The highest rates were found for computer mice (ICU 6/8; general ward 1/5), followed by trash cans (ICU 3/ 5; general ward 0/8), sickbed handrails (ICU 6/14; general ward 0/12), and doorknobs (general ward 1/12, 8.3%).

SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in the air 4 m from patients.

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