Possibility of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in a tertiary care hospital setting: A case study

Morioka, Shinichiro; Nakamura, Keiji; Iida, Shun; Kutsuna, Satoshi; Kinoshita, Noriko; Suzuki, Tetsuya; Suzuki, Tadaki; Yamamoto, Kei; Hayakawa, Kayoko; Saito, Sho; Ohmagari, Norio

Summary This report aimed to investigate transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a hospital setting. A 63-year-old man with pneumonia and an asymptomatic 70-year-old man were admitted to a tertiary hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Both men were accompanied by their wives, who stayed with their husbands during their hospitalisation. The wives of Patient 1 and Patient 2 tested positive and negative for SARS-CoV-2, respectively. Of the environmental samples tested, 1/21 and 0/25 from the rooms of Patient 1 and Patient 2, respectively, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Route of transmission from Patient 1 to his wife was unclear.