@article {9, title = {Detection of Air and Surface Contamination by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Hospital Rooms of Infected Patients}, journal = {medRxiv}, year = {2020}, month = {4/9/2020}, abstract = {Understanding the particle size distribution in the air and patterns of environmental contamination of SARS-CoV-2 is essential for infection prevention policies. We aimed to detect SARS-CoV-2 surface and air contamination and study associated patient-level factors. 245 surface samples were collected from 30 airborne infection isolation rooms of COVID-19 patients, and air sampling was conducted in 3 rooms. Air sampling detected SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive particles of sizes >4 μm and 1-4 μm in two rooms, which warrants further study of the airborne transmission potential of SARS-CoV-2. 56.7\% of rooms had at least one environmental surface contaminated. High touch surface contamination was shown in ten (66.7\%) out of 15 patients in the first week of illness, and three (20\%) beyond the first week of illness (p = 0.01).}, url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.29.20046557v2}, author = {Po Ying Chia and Kristen K Coleman and Yian Kim Tan and Sean Wei Xiang Ong and Marcus Gum and Sok Kiang Lau and Stephanie Sutjipto and Pei Hua Lee and Than The Son and Barnaby E. Young and Donald K. Milton and Gregory C. Gray and Stephan Schuster and Timothy Barkham and Partha Prathim De and Shawn Vasoo and Monica Chan and Brenda Sze Peng Ang and Boon Huan Tan and Yee Sin Leo and Oon-Tek Ng and Michelle Su Yen Wong and Kalisvar Marimuthu} }