investigating the presence of sars-cov-2 on the surfaces, fomites, and in indoor air of a referral covid-19 hospital, shiraz, iran

Background: coronavirus disease (covid-19) is an immensely transmissible viral infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2). this study aimed to assess the presence of sars-cov-2 in the indoor air, on the surfaces, and on the fomites of a covid-19 referral hospital in shiraz, iran.methods: in this cross-sectional study, indoor air sampling was conducted utilizing a standard midget impinger containing 15 ml of viral transfer medium (vtm) equipped with a sampling pump with a flow rate of 10 l min-1 for 60 minutes. surfaces and fomites were sampled using sterile polyester swabs. the realtime reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rrt-pcr) was utilized to detect sars-cov-2.results: the rna of sars-cov-2 was detected in about 41.2% indoor air and 32% swab samples. four out of the six (66.7%) indoor air samples up to a distance of 2 meters from the patient’s bed in intensive care units (icu-1, icu-3), accident and emergency (a&e-2), and negative pressure rooms were positive for sars-cov-2 rna. all air samples within 2 to 5 meters of the patient’s bed were negative.conclusion: this study’s results did not support the airborne sars-cov-2 transmission; however, it showed contamination of surfaces and fomites in the studied hospital’s wards.