SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Health Care Workers Despite the Use of Surgical Masks and Physical Distancing-the Role of Airborne Transmission

Lotem Goldberg; Yoel Levinsky; Nufar Marcus; Vered Hoffer; Michal Gafner; Shai Hadas; Sraya Kraus; Meirav Mor; Oded Scheuerman

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofab036

SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Health Care Workers Despite the Use of Surgical Masks and Physical Distancing-the Role of Airborne Transmission

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Jan 27;8(3):ofab036. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab036. eCollection 2021 Mar.

Authors

Lotem Goldberg^{1

2}, Yoel Levinsky^{1

2}, Nufar Marcus^{1

2}, Vered Hoffer^{1

2}, Michal Gafner^{1

2}, Shai Hadas^{1

2}, Sraya Kraus¹, Meirav Mor^{2

3}, Oded Scheuerman^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics B, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva, Israel.
² Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
³ Infectious Diseases Unit, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva, Israel.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted mainly via respiratory droplets. A key question in the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is whether SARS-CoV-2 could be transmitted via the airborne route as well. We report for the first time SARS-CoV-2 nosocomial infections despite using surgical masks and physical distancing. This report may provide possible evidence for airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; aerosol; airborne transmission; surgical masks.