A new paper published on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that the coronavirus may travel up to four meters, twice as far as previously thought, and can appear on the soles of shoes of medical personnel in hospital wards treating coronavirus patients.
The paper, flagged Sunday by the New York Post, is based on research done by doctors and scientists at two hospital wards in Wuhan, China, where the COVID-19 virus is thought to have originated.
The abstract states:
To determine distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in hospital wards in Wuhan, China, we tested air and surface samples. Contamination was greater in intensive care units than general wards. Virus was widely distributed on floors, computer mice, trash cans, and sickbed handrails and was detected in air ≈4 m from patients.
The paper goes on to say:
In addition, as medical staff walk around the ward, the virus can be tracked all over the floor, as indicated by the 100% rate of positivity from the floor in the pharmacy, where there were no patients. Furthermore, half of the samples from the soles of the ICU medical staff shoes tested positive. Therefore, the soles of medical staff shoes might function as carriers. … We highly recommend that persons disinfect shoe soles before walking out of wards containing COVID-19 patients.
The rate of positivity was also relatively high for the surface of the objects that were frequently touched by medical staff or patients (Tables 1, 2). The highest rates were for computer mice (ICU 6/8, 75%; GW 1/5, 20%), followed by trash cans (ICU 3/5, 60%; GW 0/8), sickbed handrails (ICU 6/14, 42.9%; GW 0/12), and doorknobs (GW 1/12, 8.3%). Sporadic positive results were obtained from sleeve cuffs and gloves of medical staff. These results suggest that medical staff should perform hand hygiene practices immediately after patient contact.
The paper does not discuss the possibility of transmission in outdoor settings, or how whether a virus might travel on the soles of shoes far enough to become a threat outside the hospital environment.
Current “social distancing” guidelines suggest maintaining a separation of about two meters, or six feet.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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