Study finds evidence of COVID-19 in air, on hospital surfaces

A study published late last week in Emerging Infectious Diseases found a wide distribution of COVID-19 virus genetic material on surfaces and in the air about 4 meters (13 feet) from patients in two hospital wards in Wuhan, China, posing a risk to healthcare workers. While the findings of the environmental sampling study do not indicate the amount of live virus, if any, or precisely determine the distance of aerosol transmission, the authors say that they confirm that the virus spreads in aerosols in addition to large respiratory droplets.