The study, based on 13 COVID-19 positive patients who were studied in isolation rooms, found that not only had the surfaces of their surroundings become contaminated with the virus, but also that air samples both in their rooms as well as the hallways outside of their hospital rooms were contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19.

The research was published in Nature Scientific Reports earlier this week.

Researchers in the study were hoping to better understand how the virus can be transmitted in order to help control the spread and also to help protect front line workers such as first responders and those working in healthcare.

“This study increases our knowledge of the stability and spread of SARS-CoV-2 in indoor environments,” says Joanna Shisler, a program director in NSF’s Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.

“The information can help us understand how to clean and maintain rooms and buildings to decrease possible virus transmission.”

With this new evidence in mind, researchers say that the use of masks as an airborne precaution would be appropriate.

To keep others, including hospital workers, safe when working or living near those sick with COVID-19, researchers say that it is very important to clean and disinfect surfaces, including bathrooms, and that respiratory protection (like masks) should be used.

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