Risk of COVID-19 Transmission from Infected Outpatients to Healthcare Workers in an Outpatient Clinic
10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e431
- Author:
Hyemin CHUNG
1
;
Eun Ok KIM
;
Sung-Han KIM
;
Jiwon JUNG
Author Information
1. Department of Infectious Diseases, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
- Publication Type:Brief Communication
- From:Journal of Korean Medical Science
2020;35(50):e431-
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
From January to September 2020, we conducted contact-tracing for confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who visited our outpatient clinic to evaluate the risk of COVID-19 transmission from infected patients to healthcare workers (HCWs). COVID-19 was diagnosed in 8 outpatients. Per the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARSCoV-2) polymerase chain reaction test results, none of the 317 HCWs who came in contact had a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis (0.00%; 95% confidence interval, 0.00%–0.01%).This low rate of transmission from infected outpatients to HCWs suggests that standard precaution such as using surgical mask and hand hygiene protects HCWs from SARS-CoV-2 in a low-risk, outpatient clinic setting.
