Presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in isolation ward environment 28 days after exposure.

Recent studies have reported that surfaces and objects in the rooms of infected patients that are frequently touched by both medical staff and patients could be contaminated with SARS-CoV-2. In December 2019, Wuhan China suffered the earliest from this COVID-19 pandemic, and we took that opportunity to investigate whether the SARS-CoV-2 RNA exists in the ward environment after a long time from exposure. We found that on the 28th day following the discharge of COVID-19 patients, SARS-CoV-2 RNA could still be detected on the surfaces of pagers and in drawers in the isolation wards. Thorough disinfection of the ward environment was subsequently performed, after which these surfaces in the isolation wards tested negative for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The findings remind us that the contaminated environment in the wards may become potential infectious resources and that despite a long time from exposure, the thorough disinfection in the COVID-10 units after is still necessary.

Zhou Y ，Zeng Y ，Chen C 《-》

SARS-CoV-2 RNA contamination on surfaces of a COVID-19 ward in a hospital of Northern Italy: what risk of transmission?

D'accolti M ，Soffritti I ，Passaro A ，Zuliani G ，Antonioli P ，Mazzacane S ，Manfredini R ，Caselli E ... -  《-》

Contamination of SARS-CoV-2 in patient surroundings and on personal protective equipment in a non-ICU isolation ward for COVID-19 patients with prolonged PCR positive status.

Wei L ，Huang W ，Lu X ，Wang Y ，Cheng L ，Deng R ，Long H ，Zong Z ... -  《Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control》

SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection of hospital isolation wards hygiene monitoring during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 outbreak in a Chinese hospital.

The aim of this paper was to monitor the presence of SARS-Cov-2 among hospital environment surfaces, sewage, and personal protective equipment (PPE) of staffs in isolation wards in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, China. Surfaces of objects were routinely wiped with 1000mg/L chlorine containing disinfectant. Air and sewage disinfection was proceeded routinely and strictly. Hospital environmental surfaces and PPE of staffs in isolation wards were sampled using swabs. The sewage from various inlet and outlets were sampled. The respiratory and stool specimens of patients were collected. The respiratory specimens of staffs in the isolation wards were also sampled once a week. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) methods were used to confirm the existence of SARS-Cov-2 RNA. Viral culture was done for the samples positive for SARS-Cov-2 RNA. During the study period, 33 laboratory-confirmed patients were hospitalized in isolation wards in the hospital. None of SARS-Cov-2 RNA was detected among the 36 objects surface samples and 9 staffs PPE samples in isolation wards. Though the 3 sewage samples from the inlet of preprocessing disinfection pool were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and the sample from the outlet of preprocessing disinfection pool was weakly positive, the sewage sample from the outlet of the last disinfection pool was negative. All of the 5 sewage samples from various points were negative by viral culture of SARS-Cov-2. None of the respiratory specimens of staffs in the isolation wards were positive. Though SARS-Cov-2 RNA of the sewage samples were positive from inlets of the sewage disinfection pool and negative from the outlet of the last sewage disinfection pool, no viable virus was detected by culture. The monitoring data in this study suggested that the strict disinfection and hand hygiene could decrease the hospital-associated COVID-19 infection risk of the staffs in isolation wards.

Wang J ，Feng H ，Zhang S ，Ni Z ，Ni L ，Chen Y ，Zhuo L ，Zhong Z ，Qu T ... -  《-》

[Detection and evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid contamination in corona virus disease 19 ward surroundings and the surface of medical staff's protective equipment].

Yuan XN ，Meng QY ，Shen N ，Li YX ，Liang C ，Cui M ，Ge QG ，Li XG ，Tan K ，Chen Q ，Wang J ，Zeng XY ... -  《-》