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Sustainable Development Goals
06 Água potável e saneamentoCollections
- PE - IAM - Preprint [22]
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WIDESPREAD CONTAMINATION OF SARS-COV-2 ON HIGHLY TOUCHED SURFACES IN BRAZIL DURING THE SECOND WAVE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
COVID-19
Contaminação ambiental
Políticas de prevenção
Transmissão
Coronavirus disease 2019
Environmental contamination
Prevention policies
Transmission
Author
Affilliation
Abstract
Although SARS-CoV-2 surface contamination has been investigated in temperate climates, few studies have been conducted in the tropics. Here, we investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on high-touch surfaces in a large city in Brazil. A total of 400 surface samples were collected in February 2021 in the City of Recife, Northeastern Brazil. A total of 97 samples (24.2%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR using the CDC-USA protocol. All the collection sites, except one (18/19, 94.7%) had at least one environmental surface sample contaminated. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was higher in public transport terminals (47/97, 48.4%), followed by health care units (26/97, 26.8%), public parks (14/97, 14.4%), public markets (4/97, 4.1%), and beach areas (4/97, 4.1%). Toilets, ATMs, handrails, playground, and outdoor gym were identified as fomites with the highest rates of viral contamination. Regarding the type of material, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found more commonly on metal (45/97, 46.3%), followed by plastic (18/97, 18.5%), wood (12/97, 12.3%), rock (10/97, 10.3%), concrete (8/97, 8.2%), and glass (2/97, 2.0%). Taken together, our data indicated extensive SARS-CoV-2 contamination in public surfaces and identified critical control points that need to be targeted to break SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains.
Keywords in Portuguese
SARS-CoV-2COVID-19
Contaminação ambiental
Políticas de prevenção
Transmissão
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2Coronavirus disease 2019
Environmental contamination
Prevention policies
Transmission
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