Virus levels low on surfaces in COVID-19 patients’ hospital rooms

A US study finds that less than 6% of samples taken from rooms in a dedicated coronavirus unit are positive
Reuters Health

The rate of contamination of surfaces in dedicated hospital units for COVID-19 patients is low, US researchers report.

Of the 347 individual samples collected from the rooms of 20 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, less than 6% were positive, the authors report. 

In addition, only one sample demonstrated cytopathic effect, in the study carried out between October 2020 and June 2021.

The authors assessed single occupancy inpatient rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients between October 2020 and June 2021, collecting environmental samples on study day one and again on days three, six, 10 and 14.