Abstract
Transmission pathways of SARS-CoV-2 are aerosol, droplet and touching infected material. The diffusion of the virus contagion among people is easier in indoor location, but direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 in air or on surfaces is quite sparse, especially regarding public transport, while it would be important to know how and if it is safe to use them. To answer these questions we analysed the air and the surfaces most usually touched by passengers inside a city bus during normal operation, in order to understand the possible spreading of the virus and the effectiveness of the protective measures. The measurements were carried out across the last week of the lockdown and the first week when, gradually, all the travel restrictions were removed. The air and surface samples were analysed with the RT-PCR for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus. After two weeks of measurements and more than 1100 passenger travelling on the bus the virus was never detected both on surfaces and on air, suggesting that the precautions adopted on public transportation are effective in reducing the COVID-19 spreading.
Highlights
The diffusion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) affected over 100 countries in a matter of weeks, on January 30th the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 epidemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern [1]
The same results were obtained for all the air samples during the whole study period, including the overnight air sample taken without passengers with the bus in the hangar
The end of the lockdown, imposed to contain the COVID-19 infection outbreak, is entailing a growing number of people that restart the usual daily activities including travelling on public transport
Summary
The diffusion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) affected over 100 countries in a matter of weeks, on January 30th the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 epidemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern [1]. The huge increase of infected people resulted, on 13 March, more strict measures including transport rationalization, with a strong reduction of public transport, maintaining only a minimum level of services [3]. One of the main measures recommended was the recurrent cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces such as handles and rails because of the potential environmental stability of SARS-CoV-2 that, according to some reports, could span from up to three hours, in the post-aerosolisation air, to about 24 hours on cardboard and about three days on plastic and stainless steel [5]. For buses and trains sanitation were recommended virucidal licensed products, containing sodium hypochlorite, or those containing ethanol (at least 70%), after cleaning with a neutral detergent [8]
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