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Assessment of air and surfaces contamination in a COVID-19 non-Intensive Care Unit
Michael Declementi1, Alessandro Godono2, Ihab Mansour3
1School in Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Turin, Italy.. michael.declementi@gmail.com.
Background:
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus - 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus, primarily transmitted through droplets, able to persist on different surfaces and in the air for several hours. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Care Workers should be considered a high risk profession. Beside social distancing rules and the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment, sanitization measures and ventilation system disinfection are essential to reduce viral transmission.
Objectives:
This is the first Italian study aiming to assess the magnitude of environmental contamination in a COVID-19 non-Intensive Care Unit.
Methods:
In addition to ordinary cleaning procedures, surface and air samplings have been performed before and after the application of two different sanitization devices. Samples have been analyzed with Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction in order to find viral RNA.
Results:
All samples obtained from surfaces and air before and after extra-ordinary sanitization procedures turned out negative for viral detection.
Discussion:
These findings highlight the efficiency of ordinary cleaning procedures in guaranteeing a safer workplace. The adoption of additional sanitization protocols should be considered in order to further reduce environmental viral contamination.
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