Asymptomatic patients & environmental contamination

Asymptomatic patients with COVID-19 “do contaminate their surroundings and impose risks for others with close contact,” researchers report in mSphere. The researchers sampled surfaces in six negative-pressure rooms housing 13 COVID-19 patients in a designated isolation ward in a Chinese hospital. Of 112 surface samples tested (e.g., bed rails, door handles), 39% were positive for SARS-CoV-2, despite all air samples testing negative. In particular, in the room housing a single asymptomatic patient, 4 of 14 samples (29%) tested positive for the virus. Of note, the study did not report whether viral presence on surfaces was related to risk for clinical infection.

Environmental contamination study in mSphere