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Oxford University Press - PMC COVID-19 Collection logoLink to Oxford University Press - PMC COVID-19 Collection
. 2022 Jan 12:ciac023. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac023

SARS-CoV-2 Environmental contamination in hospital rooms is uncommon using viral culture techniques

Bobby G Warren 1,2,, Alicia Nelson 1,2, Aaron Barrett 1,2, Bechtler Addison 1, Amanda Graves 1, Raquel Binder 2, Gregory Gray 3, Sarah Lewis 1,2, Becky A Smith 1,2, David J Weber 4, Emily E Sickbert-Bennett 4, Deverick J Anderson 1,2; CDC Prevention Epicenters Program
PMCID: PMC8807208  PMID: 35023553

Abstract

We assessed environmental contamination of inpatient rooms housing COVID-19 patients in a dedicated COVID-19 unit. Contamination with SARS-CoV-2 was found on 5.5% (19/347) of surfaces via RT-PCR and 0.3% (1/347) of surfaces via cell culture. Environmental contamination is uncommon in hospitals rooms; RNA presence is not a specific indicator of infectious virus.

Keywords: COVID-19, Environmental Contamination, SARS-CoV-2, Pandemic


Articles from Clinical Infectious Diseases: An Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

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