Environmental monitoring of food plant surfaces contamination frequency with COVID-19

An article entitled “Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Contamination on Food Plant Surfaces as Determined by Environmental Monitoring” (J Food Prot (2021) 84 (3): 352–358) investigates the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in environmental samples in zones 3 and 4 of 116 food production facilities. During the study period, from 17 March to 3 September 2020, 1.23% of the 22,643 environmental samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that infected individuals were actively shedding the virus. Frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, computer devices, tabletops, and sanitizers had the most contamination. The study shows that environmental monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 can be used as a surrogate for identifying the presence of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic personnel in workplaces and may aid in controlling infection spread. The data generated during the study enabled participating production facilities to fine-tune their COVID-19 safety protocols and make personnel testing decisions. The human and environmental samples collected in the same facility at the same time indicated that in the absence of personnel testing, environmental testing for SARS-CoV-2 could indicate the presence of active human infections.  @ https://meridian.allenpress.com/jfp/article/84/3/352/451350/Prevalence-of-SARS-CoV-2-Contamination-on-Food