Researchers report that no hospital acquired infections occurred among healthcare workers at public hospitals in Hong Kong after the first 6 weeks of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak — even though these hospitals dealt with 42 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

For live updates on the latest developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here.

Dr. Vincent C.C. Cheng, from the Department of Microbiology at Queen Mary Hospital, in Hong Kong, is the lead author of the new study.

Dr. Cheng and the team inventoried the infection control measures implemented by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, “a governing body of all 43 public hospitals, responsible for 90% of inpatient service in Hong Kong” immediately after the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, mainland China.

The findings indicate that standard infection control practices are effective if conscientiously applied.

The scientists also examined the epidemiology of the confirmed cases that these hospitals dealt with, as well as collecting and analyzing environmental and air samples to see how much the virus had spread in the environment.

The researchers published their findings in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

http://www.gzjiayumed.com/en/index.asp