Community transmission of SARS-CoV‑2 by surfaces: risks and risk reduction strategies
Author(s)
Pitol Garcia, Ana
Julian, Timothy R
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is perceived to be primarily transmitted via person-to-person contact through droplets produced while talking, coughing, and sneezing. Transmission may also occur through other routes, including contaminated surfaces; nevertheless, the role that surfaces have on the spread of the disease remains contested. Here, we use the Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment framework to examine the risks of community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through surfaces and to evaluate the effectiveness of hand and surface disinfection as potential interventions. Using conservative assumptions on input parameters of the model (e.g., dose–response relationship, ratio of genome copies to infective virus), the average of the median risks for single hand-to-surface contact followed by hand-to-face contact range from 1.6 × 10–4 to 5.6 × 10–9 for modeled prevalence rates of 0.2%–5%. For observed prevalence rates (0.2%, 1%), this corresponds to a low risk of infection (<10–6). Hand disinfection substantially reduces risks of transmission independently of the disease’s prevalence and contact frequency. In contrast, the effectiveness of surface disinfection is highly dependent on the prevalence and the frequency of contacts. The work supports the current perception that contaminated surfaces are not a primary mode of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and affirms the benefits of making hand disinfectants widely available.
Date Issued
2021-01-06
Date Acceptance
2020-12-23
Citation
Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 2021, 8 (3), pp.263-269
ISSN
2328-8930
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
263
End Page
269
Journal / Book Title
Environmental Science and Technology Letters
Volume
8
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND.
Subjects
0502 Environmental Science and Management
0907 Environmental Engineering
1002 Environmental Biotechnology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-01-06