By Joshua Huff, sports editor
New research indicated that the coronavirus can be transported by as much as 13 feet by people’s shoes, according to a report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new research, published in the agency’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, comes after a team tested air and surface samples at Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, China, in an effort to better study how the coronavirus known as COVID-19 was transported.
Between Feb. 19 and March 2, the authors of the study collected samples by swabbing possible contaminated items. The authors discovered that contamination lingered on floors, computer mice, trash cans, sickbed handrails, patient masks, personal protective equipment, and air outlets.
Overall, they reported, floor swabs also had a high rate of positive tests, potentially due to virus droplets falling on the ground. Half of the ICU staff’s shoes also tested positive.
“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,” the authors wrote. “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.”
The authors finished the study with three conclusions: First, COVID-19 was widely distributed in the air and on object surfaces in both the ICU and GW, implying a potentially high infection risk for medical staff and other close contacts; Second, the environmental contamination was greater in the ICU than in the GW; thus, stricter protective measures should be taken by medical staff working in the ICU; Third, the COVID-19 aerosol distribution characteristics in the GW indicate that the transmission distance of COVID-19 might be 4m, which is about 13 feet.
The results could imply a “potentially high infection risk” for medical staff and their close contacts, the research team concluded. Stricter measures should be taken, particularly for those working in intensive care wards.
The CDC recommends 6 feet for social distancing, and the World Health Organization recommends 3 feet.