Transmission of COVID-19 to Health Care Personnel During Exposures to a Hospitalized Patient — Solano County, California, February 2020

Heinzerling, Amy; Stuckey, Matthew J.; Scheuer, Tara; Xu, Kerui; Perkins, Kiran M.; Resseger, Heather; Magill, Shelley; Verani, Jennifer R.; Jain, Seema; Acosta, Meileen; Epson, Erin

On February 26, 2020, the first U.S. case of community-acquired coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was confirmed in a patient hospitalized in Solano County, California (1). The patient was initially evaluated at hospital A on February 15; at that time, COVID-19 was not suspected, as the patient denied travel or contact with symptomatic persons. During a 4-day hospitalization, the patient was managed with standard precautions and underwent multiple aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs), including nebulizer treatments, bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) ventilation, endotracheal intubation, and bronchoscopy. Several days after the patient's transfer to hospital B, a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2 returned positive. Among 121 hospital A health care personnel (HCP) who were exposed to the patient, 43 (35.5%) developed symptoms during the 14 days after exposure and were tested for SARS-CoV-2; three had positive test results and were among the first known cases of probable occupational transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to HCP in the United States. Little is known about specific risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in health care settings. To better characterize and compare exposures among HCP who did and did not develop COVID-19, standardized interviews were conducted with 37 hospital A HCP who were tested for SARS-CoV-2, including the three who had positive test results. Performing physical examinations and exposure to the patient during nebulizer treatments were more common among HCP with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 than among those without COVID-19; HCP with COVID-19 also had exposures of longer duration to the patient. Because transmission-based precautions were not in use, no HCP wore personal protective equipment (PPE) recommended for COVID-19 patient care during contact with the index patient. Health care facilities should emphasize early recognition and isolation of patients with possible COVID-19 and use of recommended PPE to minimize unprotected, high-risk HCP exposures and protect the health care workforce.