Abstract
ABSTRACTIt is well established that coronavirus disease 2019 is primarily transmitted through respiratory droplets, and there is mounting research speculation that it may also be transmitted via fomites. Several studies have shown that the virus can persist on both porous and nonporous surfaces for hours to days, depending upon the material. This article examines three cases of polymerase chain reaction–proven severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection with several additional individuals meeting CDC close contact criteria. In 1 case, 195 downstream contacts were all tested to prevent a mass outbreak in a deployment posture. Analysis of these contacts yielded only a single positive test, which could be reasonably ascribed to respiratory droplet transmission. While these cases and their contacts ultimately represent a small sample size, we suggest fomite spread may not be a significant means of transmission for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in real-world operational scenarios.
Highlights
Starting in December 2019, cases of viral pneumonia began appearing in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
The cases of viral pneumonia that started in Wuhan, China in December 2019 quickly swept the globe and evolved into the COVID-19 pandemic
There is reliable evidence that shows the ability of the virus to persist on both porous and nonporous surfaces for hours to days, there is no evidence which shows that this has resulted in a human case of COVID-19
Summary
Starting in December 2019, cases of viral pneumonia began appearing in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. On January 20, 2020, the first case of viral pneumonia was reported in Wuhan in a 35-year-old female without any known exposure to animal meat markets, wild animals, or prior cases of viral pneumonia. This infection was attributed to a novel coronavirus dubbed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 that has since developed into a pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).[1,2,3] The coronavirus family consists of singlestranded RNA viruses, which can infect both animals and humans, resulting in a primarily respiratory illness with multi-systemic effects. Until the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, there were six human coronaviruses identified: HCoVs-NL63, HCoVs-229E, HCoVs-OC43, HCoVs-HKU1, SARS-CoV, and Middle East respiratory syndrome-CoV.[4]
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