HealthDay Reports: Asymptomatic Coronavirus Carriers Can Shed Virus on Surfaces — Study
Researchers report that asymptomatic COVID-19 patients can contaminate their surroundings and therefore make persons who have direct contact with them be exposed to COVID-19.
Asymptomatic Coronavirus Carriers Can Shed Virus on Surfaces: Study
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 patients with no symptoms are as likely as those with symptoms to contaminate many surfaces in their rooms, researchers report.
The investigators sampled the surfaces and air of six negative pressure non-intensive care unit rooms with 13 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients -- two of whom had no symptoms -- who had returned from overseas and were in an isolation ward in Chengdu, China. In a negative pressure room, a machine pulls air into the room and then filters that air before moving it outside.
Samples were collected from surfaces such as bedrails, door handles, light switches, foot flush buttons, sink rims, sink and toilet bowls and drains, bedside tables, bedsheets, pillows, equipment belts on the wall, floors and air exhaust outlets.