Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

June 9, 2020

Persistent Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Patients and Healthcare Workers with COVID-19

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  • An observational analysis of 150 patients and health care workers at a US academic medical center revealed that the average time to transition from testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR to testing negative was 24 days after symptom onset, and 10% of participants remained positive at 33 days after symptom onset. 
  • The authors suggest that the CDC guideline of excluding healthcare workers from the workforce and keeping patients on contact precautions until at least 3 days after symptomatic recovery or at least 7 days since initial onset may not be sufficient if extended viral shedding is associated with continued infectiousness. 

Gombar et al. (May 30, 2020). Persistent Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Patients and Healthcare Workers with COVID-19. Journal of Clinical Virology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104477