SARS CoV-2 Surveillance and Exposure in the Perioperative Setting with Universal testing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Policies

Aslam, Anoshe; Singh, Jessica; Robilotti, Elizabeth; Chow, Karin; Bist, Tarun; Reidy-Lagunes, Diane; Shah, Monika; Korenstein, Deborah; Babady, N Esther; Kamboj, Mini

BACKGROUND: New York City (NYC) experienced a surge of COVID-19 cases in March and April 2020. Since then, universal PCR based surveillance testing and PPE measures are in wide use in procedural settings. There is limited published experience on the utility and sustainability of PCR based surveillance testing in areas with receding and consistently low community COVID-19 rates. METHODS: The study was conducted at a tertiary care cancer center in NYC from March 22, 2020, until August 22, 2020. Asymptomatic patients underwent SARS CoV-2 testing before surgeries, interventional radiology procedures, and endoscopy. Contact tracing in procedural areas was done if a patient with an initial negative screen re-tested positive within 48 hours of the procedure. RESULTS: From March 22 until August 22, 2020, 11,540 unique patients underwent 14,233 tests before surgeries or procedures at MSKCC. Overall, 65 patients were positive, with a peak rate of 4.3% that fell below 0.3 % after April 2020. For the 65 positive cases, three were pre-symptomatic, and 38 were asymptomatic. Among asymptomatic test-positive patients, 76 % had PCR cycle threshold (Ct) > 30 at first detection. Five patients tested newly positive in the immediate post-operative period, exposing 82 employees with one case of probable transmission (1.2%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection identified on pre-procedural surveillance was low in our study, which was conducted in an area with limited community spread at the later stage of the study Universal PPE is protective in procedural settings. Optimal and flexible diagnostic strategies are needed to accomplish and sustain the goals of comprehensive pre-procedure surveillance testing.