Episode description

Social easing restrictions will eventually happen - but what does the research say? In today’s episode we’ll be reviewing what the literature says about direct and non-contact forms of virus transmission. I’ve just published a review paper on “Environmental Surface Contamination” and I’ll be picking out the key 🔑 points. In the media today, there’s some potential good news regarding how businesses should prepare for reopening. But what should they be considering? The Employment Minister, @senatormichaeliacash suggests that retailers create “COVID-safe workplaces”. With this in mind, I’ll be setting out some valuable information about surface contamination and what areas and items should be carefully monitored and screened. Apart from simply cleaning more carefully, some workplaces should be considering updates to their cleaning audits and how they may need to test surfaces to confirm that cleaning has minimised and virus that could have been shed. The utility of PCR swab tests will also be discussed as a pro-active way to perform cleaning validation as a form of environmental surveillance

REFERENCES:

JONES, C.L. (2020). Environmental Surface Contamination with SARS-CoV-2 - A Short Review. Journal of Human Virology & Retrovirology. 8(1): 15-19. https://medcraveonline.com/JHVRV/JHVRV-08-00215.pdf

Yamato, J., & Olsen, M. (2020). What will a post-pandemic Hollywood look like? We asked Hollywood. Retrieved 30 April 2020, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-04-30/coronavirus-reopening-hollywood-production-survey

Rouse, A. (2020). Pubs and restaurants closed due to coronavirus prepare to reopen. Retrieved 30 April 2020, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8275969/Pubs-gyms-shops-restaurants-closed-COVID-19-lockdown-prepared-reopen.html

https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.25.20028043

https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.3227

https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.23.20039446

https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.23.20039446

https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.29.20046557

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0282_article

https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.04.20053058

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0282_article

https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12606

https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1002.030759

Knowledge and perceptions of environmental surface contamination and COVID-19: OUR SURVEY AVAILABLE SOON HERE - CHECK COMMENTS FOR UPDATES ON LOGINS AND AVAILABILITY