COVID-19 could infect hospital wards in 10 hours: Scientists

LONDON, 09 June 2020 [Fik/News Sources]: COVID-19 could be capable of infecting an entire hospital ward in just 10 hours, according to researchers in the UK.

Scientists at University College London (UCL) and Great Ormond Street Hospital also found that the virus could remain active on surfaces in such an environment for over five days, reinforcing the need for medical staff to employ rigorous hygiene and disinfection methods in facilities even not known to have been exposed to COVID-19.

The researchers left a milliliter of water containing DNA from a different virus, which could not be transmitted to or between humans, on a hospital bed in an isolation room at Great Ormond Street.

Ten hours later, it was found in samples across 41 percent of the hospital ward, including on beds, door handles, children’s toys and books.

This rose to 59 percent after three days. The virus was still detectable in 41 percent of samples five days after the test began.

The team said COVID-19, which is primarily spread through the fluid emitted when infected people cough or sneeze, would likely spread faster than the virus DNA in the study, given that carriers were more likely to move themselves, and as fluids typically contaminated with COVID-19, such as saliva, were more adhesive to surfaces than water.

Lena Ciric, one of its senior members, said the research highlights “the important role that surfaces play in the transmission of a virus and how critical it is to adhere to good hand hygiene and cleaning.”

Great Ormond Street Trust Healthcare Lead Elaine Cloutman-Green said: “Like SARS-CoV-2, the surrogate we used could be removed with a disinfectant wipe or by washing hands with soap and water.”

Research published in the New England Medical Journal had previously suggested that COVID-19 remained detectable on plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours.