COVID-19 in the urban built environment (CUBE): SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in high traffic hospital settings

对于医生、其他一线医护人员、医院管理人员和公共卫生机构来说，了解导致新冠肺炎的SARS-CoV-2病毒在新冠肺炎治疗中心及其周围的分布和流行情况是当务之急。简单地说，我们需要知道病毒是否存在以及在哪里存在，以保护前线工作人员并减少传播。我们的项目将提供这些数据。我们将与行业合作伙伴DNA gentek以及渥太华医院的医院监测项目和感染预防和控制(IPAC)项目合作，完善从医院环境中经常接触的建筑表面回收病毒遗传物质的技术，并跟踪医院治疗地点及其周围交通繁忙地区随着时间的推移病毒的流行情况。这项工作直接与将环境和人类健康联系在一起的OneHealth视角相一致，并代表了城市微生物群监测生物地理学方面的一项原则证明倡议，该倡议可扩展到医院以外的更多交通繁忙地点，如学校、社区中心和购物中心。

Understanding the distribution and prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in and around COVID-19 treatment centers is a high priority for physicians, other front-line health care workers, hospital administrators, and public health agencies. Put simply, we need to know whether and where the virus is present in order to safeguard front line workers and reduce spread. Our project will provide this data. Working with industry partner DNA Genotek and hospital-based surveillance programs and infection prevention and control (IPAC) programs at The Ottawa Hospital, we will refine technologies for recoverhing viral genetic material from commonly-touched built surfaces in the hospital setting and track the prevalence of the virus over time in high traffic areas in and around hospital treatment sites. This work is directly aligned with a OneHealth perspective linking environmental and human health and represents a proof-of-principle initiative in surveillance biogeography of the urban microbiome that could be expanded to additional high traffic sites beyond the hospital such as schools, community centres, and shopping malls.