Environmental testing for SARS-CoV-2 in three tertiary-care hospitals during the peak of the third COVID-19 wave

Maltezou, Helena C.; Tseroni, Maria; Daflos, Charalampos; Anastassopoulou, Cleo; Vasilogiannakopoulos, Antonios; Daligarou, Olga; Panagiotou, Maria; Botsa, Evanthia; Spanakis, Nikolaos; Lourida, Athanasia; Tsakris, Athanasios

Contamination of surfaces has been implicated in transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We tested by real-time PCR for SARS-CoV-2 contamination environmental samples from three hospitals during the peak of the third pandemic wave. Overall, 19 of 463 (4.1%) samples tested positive: 12 of 173 (6.9%) samples from a COVID-19 hospital, 3 of 177 (1.7%) samples from a non-COVID-19 hospital, and 4 of 113 (3.5%) samples from a pediatric hospital with dedicated COVID-19 clinics. Most positive samples originated from emergency departments (EDs) (47.3%) and the intensive care units (ICUs) (26.3%) of the COVID-19 hospital. Positive samples belonged almost exclusively (18/19) to the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 cluster, that might explain environmental contamination at this stage of the pandemic. The frequency and efficiency of disinfection in high-risk patient areas, such as EDs and ICUs, should be reinforced, especially during this period where highly transmissible variants of concern are widespread.