Preventing Nosocomial Spread of SARS-CoV-2: Wash Your Hands and Clean the Room

The detection of SARS-CoV-2 in samples from patients, their hospital rooms, and a provider's shoe reinforces the need for hand hygiene and the effectiveness of environmental cleaning.

The persistence of virus on surfaces is thought to play an important role in transmission of SARS-CoV-2, but data on environmental contamination are limited. Now, investigators from Singapore have published results of environmental sampling taken from the hospital rooms of three patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and from the personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by their physicians as they left the room.

Environmental samples were obtained at five time points in total; at four of those five time points, patients were symptomatic and had detectable virus by PCR in clinical respiratory specimens obtained within 1 day of the environmental samples. At the fifth time point, the patient was asymptomatic and virus was not detectable in the clini…

Reviewing Author

Wendy S. Armstrong, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNIH Therapeutics and Prevention Data Safety Monitoring Board

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Board of Internal Medicine Infectious Diseases Subspecialty Board (member), Infectious Diseases Society of America (Vice President)

Wendy S. Armstrong, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNIH Therapeutics and Prevention Data Safety Monitoring Board

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Board of Internal Medicine Infectious Diseases Subspecialty Board (member), Infectious Diseases Society of America (Vice President)

Preventing Nosocomial Spread of SARS-CoV-2: Wash Your Hands and Clean the Room

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Reviewing Author