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Updated: Dec 21, 2025
Swabbing the Urban Environment - A Pipeline for Sampling and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 From Environmental Reservoirs
Published on: April 9, 2021
Environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 in a designated hospital for coronavirus disease 2019
Songjie Wu1, Ying Wang2, Xuelan Jin1
1Healthcare-Associated Infection Management Office, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Background:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by risk of nosocomial transmission; however, the extent of environmental contamination and its potential contribution of environmental contamination to SARS-CoV-2 transmission are poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate whether environmental contamination may play a role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Methods:
Air samples were collected by natural precipitation, and environmental surface samples were collected by conventional surface swabbing. SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection was performed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.
Results:
Viral RNA was not detected in the 44 air samples. The positive rates in 200 environmental surface samples in medical areas (24.83%) was higher than that in living quarters (3.64%), with a significant difference (P < .05). The positive rates were 25.00% and 37.50% for the general isolation ward and intensive care unit, respectively, and no significant difference was observed between them (P = .238). The top 5 sampling sites with a positive rate in medical areas were beepers (50.00%), water machine buttons (50.00%), elevator buttons (42.86%), computer mouses (40.00%), and telephones (40.00%).
Conclusions:
Most of the touchable surfaces in the designated hospital for COVID-19 were heavily contaminated, suggesting that the environment is a potential medium of disease transmission. These results emphasize the need for strict environmental surface hygiene practices and enhanced hand hygiene to prevent the spread of the virus.
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