Indoor, outdoor and ICU Environment monitoring of COVID-19
Abstract The disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 spread rapidly, causing a high number of deaths worldwide. The difficult ability to contain the transmission of the disease raised doubts about the possible forms of contamination. Studies have shown an increase in new cases of the disease on days when the level of pollution was high, raising questions that pollutants may be carriers of the virus. In this study, we investigated the involvement of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in virus loading in common circulation (indoor and outdoor) environments and in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital. PM2.5 was collected from May to November 2020, and the collection time per day was 48 to 72 h. After collection, the material was stored at a temperature of -80°C until the moment of analysis. Our results demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 can be found in fine particulate material (PM2.5), but there is an essential interference of temperature, humidity and UV rays in the preservation of viral RNA.
