Polymerase-chain reaction testing to prevent hospital-acquired severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in Shinjuku, an epicenter in Tokyo: the Tokyo Women’s Medical University model

Arimura, Ken; Tagaya, Etsuko; Kikuchi, Ken; Mitsuda, Toshihiro; Yasuda, Gaku; Azuma, Haruna; Konda, Naoko; Ikarashi, Yuichi; Chiba, Yukihide; Kusama, Kaoru; Sakama, Reiko; Hagiwara, Shotaro; Shimizu, Satoru; Shimamoto, Ken; Nomura, Minoru; Yaguchi, Arino; Niinami, Hiroshi; Kondo, Mitsuko; Tanabe, Kazunari; Kawana, Masatoshi

Hospital-acquired severe acute respiratory virus coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a healthcare challenge. We hypothesized that polymerase chain reaction testing of symptomatic triaged outpatients and all inpatients before hospitalization in Shinjuku, a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epicenter in Tokyo, using the Tokyo Women’s Medical University (TMWU) model would be feasible and efficient at preventing COVID-19. This retrospective study enrolled 2,981 patients from March to May 2020. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 1.81% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.95–3.47%) in triaged symptomatic outpatients, 0.04% (95% CI: 0.0002–0.2%) in scheduled asymptomatic inpatients, 3.78% (95% CI: 1.82–7.26 %) in emergency inpatients, and 2.4% (95% CI: 1.49–3.82%) in symptomatic patients. There were no cases of hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infection. This shows that the TWMU model could prevent hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infection and is feasible and effective in reducing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the hospitals.