During April and May 2020, we studied 20 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, their hospital rooms (fomites and aerosols), and their close contacts for molecular and culture evidence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Among the more than 400 samples, we found molecular evidence of virus in most sample types, especially the nasopharygeal (NP), saliva, and fecal samples, but the prevalence of molecular positivity among fomites and aerosols was low. The agreement between NP swab and saliva positivity was high (89.5%, Kappa 0.79). Two NP swabs collected from patients on one and seven days post-symptom onset had evidence of infectious virus (2 passages over 14 days in Vero E6 cells). In summary, the low molecular prevalence and lack of viable SARS-CoV-2 virus in fomites and air samples implied low nosocomial risk SARS-CoV-2 transmission through inanimate objects or aerosols.

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In 2018, our team collected aerosols samples from five poultry farms in Malaysia. Influenza D virus was detected in 14% of samples. One sample had an 86.3% identity score similar to NCBI accession number MH785020.1. This is the first molecular sequence of influenza D virus detected in Southeast Asia from a bioaerosol sample. Our findings indicate that further study of role of IDV in poultry is necessary.