On-site analysis of COVID-19 on the surfaces in wards

Wan, Bin; Zhang, Xinlian; Luo, Dongxia; Zhang, Tong; Chen, Xi; Yao, Yuhan; Zhao, Xia; Lei, Limei; Liu, Chunmei; Zhao, Wang; Zhou, Lin; Ge, Yuqing; Mao, Hongju; Liu, Sixiu; Chen, Jianmin; Cheng, Xunjia; Zhao, Jianlong; Sui, Guodong

Abstract SARS-Cov-2 has erupted across the globe, and confirmed cases of COVID-19 pose a high infection risk. Infected patients typically receive their treatment in specific isolation wards, where they are confined for at least 14 days. The virus may contaminate any surface of the room, especially frequently touched surfaces. Therefore, surface contamination in wards should be monitored for disease control and hygiene purposes. Herein, surface contamination in the ward was detected on-site using an RNA extraction-free rapid method. The whole detection process, from surface sample collection to readout of the detection results, was finished within 45 min. The nucleic acid extraction-free method requires minimal labor. More importantly, the tests were performed on-site and the results were obtained almost in real-time. The test confirmed that 31 patients contaminated seven individual sites. Among the sampled surfaces, the electrocardiogram fingertip presented a 72.7% positive rate, indicating that this surface is an important hygiene site. Meanwhile, the bedrails showed the highest correlation with other surfaces, so should be detected daily. Another surface with high contamination risk was the door handle in the bathroom. To our knowledge, we present the first on-site analysis of COVID-19 surface contamination in wards. The results and applied technique provide a potential further reference for disease control and hygiene suggestions.