Monitoring Prevalence and Persistence of Environmental Contamination by SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a Makeshift Hospital for Asymptomatic and Very Mild COVID-19 Patients

Jinyan Yang; Dan Sun; Tingting Xia; Shi Shi; Jijiang Suo; Huihui Kuang; Nana Sun; Hongyan Hu; Zhecheng Zheng; Yang Zhou; Xiaocui Li; Shaojuan Chen; Haiqiang Huang; Zhongqiang Yan

doi:10.3389/ijph.2023.1605994

Monitoring Prevalence and Persistence of Environmental Contamination by SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a Makeshift Hospital for Asymptomatic and Very Mild COVID-19 Patients

Int J Public Health. 2023 Sep 12:68:1605994. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1605994. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jinyan Yang¹, Dan Sun¹, Tingting Xia¹, Shi Shi¹, Jijiang Suo¹, Huihui Kuang², Nana Sun², Hongyan Hu², Zhecheng Zheng³, Yang Zhou³, Xiaocui Li⁴, Shaojuan Chen⁴, Haiqiang Huang⁵, Zhongqiang Yan⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Disease Prevention and Control, Hainan Hospital of People's Liberation Army of China General Hospital, Sanya, China.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hainan Hospital of People's Liberation Army of China General Hospital, Sanya, China.
³ Department of Health Economics Management, Hainan Hospital of People's Liberation Army of China General Hospital, Sanya, China.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, Hainan Hospital of People's Liberation Army of China General Hospital, Sanya, China.
⁵ Department of Radiotherapy, Hainan Hospital of People's Liberation Army of China General Hospital, Sanya, China.
⁶ Department of Disease Prevention and Control, The Second Medical Center of People's Liberation Army of China General Hospital, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the details of environmental contamination status by SARS-CoV-2 in a makeshift COVID-19 hospital. Methods: Environmental samples were collected from a makeshift hospital. The extent of contamination was assessed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for SARS-CoV-2 RNA from various samples. Results: There was a wide range of total collected samples contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 RNA, ranging from 8.47% to 100%. Results revealed that 70.00% of sewage from the bathroom and 48.19% of air samples were positive. The highest rate of contamination was found from the no-touch surfaces (73.07%) and the lowest from frequently touched surfaces (33.40%). The most contaminated objects were the top surfaces of patient cubic partitions (100%). The median Ct values among strongly positive samples were 33.38 (IQR, 31.69-35.07) and 33.24 (IQR, 31.33-34.34) for ORF1ab and N genes, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 relic RNA can be detected on indoor surfaces for up to 20 days. Conclusion: The findings show a higher prevalence and persistence in detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the makeshift COVID-19 hospital setting. The contamination mode of droplet deposition may be more common than contaminated touches.

Keywords: COVID-19; RT-qPCR; SARS-CoV-2; environmental contamination; makeshift hospital.