• Olivier Peyrony, Sami Ellouze, Jean-Paul Fontaine, Micheline Thegat-Le Cam, Maud Salmona, Linda Feghoul, Nadia Mahjoub, Séverine Mercier-Delarue, Audrey Gabassi, Constance Delaugerre, Jérôme Le Goff, and Saint-Louis CORE (COvid REsearch) group.
• Emergency Department, Saint-Louis Hospital, AP-HP, Paris, France. Electronic address: olivier.peyrony@aphp.fr.
• Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2020 Sep 1; 230: 113600.

ObjectivesEnvironmental contamination by patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) through respiratory droplets suggests that surfaces and equipment could be a medium of transmission. We aimed to assess the surface and equipment contamination by SARS-COV-2 of an emergency department (ED) during the coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.MethodsWe performed multiple samples from different sites in ED patients care and non-patient care areas with sterile premoistened swabs and used real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA). We also sampled the personal protective equipment (PPE) from health care workers (HCWs).ResultsAmong the 192 total samples, 10 (5.2%) were positive. In patient care areas, 5/46 (10.9%) of the surfaces directly in contact with COVID-19 patients revealed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and 4/56 (7.1%) of the surfaces that were not directly in contact with COVID-19 patients were positive. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was present only in the patients' examination and monitoring rooms. Before decontamination SARS-CoV-2 RNA was present on the saturation clip, the scuff for blood pressure measurement, the stretcher, the plastic screens between patients and the floor. After decontamination, SARS-CoV-2 RNA remained on the scuff, the stretcher and the trolleys. All samples from non-patient care areas or staff working rooms were negative. Only one sample from the PPE of the HCWs was positive.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that surfaces and equipment contamination by SARS-CoV-2 RNA in an ED during the COVID-19 outbreak is low and concerns exclusively patients' examination and monitoring rooms, preserving non-patient care areas.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

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