The most valuable thing to know is that the virus does not survive if cleaning is applied to contaminated surfaces with a disinfectant, at least twice a day, concluded the same analysis, published in the American journal JAMA.
The study, conducted by researchers at the National Center for Infectious Diseases in Singapore and the DSO National Laboratories, was initiated after the coronavirus spread to some Chinese hospitals. This pushed scientists to the hypothesis that beyond coughing, environmental contamination was an important factor in the transmission of the disease.
From late January to early February, they examined the rooms of three patients kept in segregation. One of the rooms was tested before its routine cleaning, while the other two were analyzed after disinfection measures. The patient, whose room was tested before cleaning, had a simple cough, while the other two showed more severe symptoms with cough, fever, shortness of breath and sputum of pulmonary mucus.
Despite their mild symptoms, the first patient had contaminated 13 of the 15 surfaces analyzed by the researchers, including his chair, bed, window and floor. In his toilet, three of the five surfaces tested, including his sink and bowl, showed traces of the virus, suggesting that stool could be a route of transmission. The air samples from his room were negative, but those taken from the air vents returned positive, showing that the contaminated droplets could be carried by the air streams.
However, the other two chambers tested after being cleaned did not show any traces of the virus. Scientists thus noted that the environment was ” a potential means of transmission ” and that “strict adherence to environmental and hand hygiene measures” was essential.
The virus, which was first identified in China’s Hubei province in December, has now infected more than 95,748 people with more than 3,286 falsities in 81 countries and territories. The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that its death rate was 3.4%, adjusting upward its previous estimates. This rate may be further revised in the future.
