TY - JOUR
T1 - Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant within Tightly Monitored Isolation Facility, New Zealand (Aotearoa)
AU - Fox-Lewis, Andrew
AU - Williamson, Felicity
AU - Harrower, Jay
AU - Ren, Xiaoyun
AU - Sonder, Gerard J. B.
AU - McNeill, Andrea
AU - de Ligt, Joep
AU - Geoghegan, Jemma L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/3/1
Y1 - 2022/3/1
N2 - In New Zealand, international arrivals are quarantined and undergo severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 screening; those who test positive are transferred to a managed isolation facility (MIF). Solo traveler A and person E from a 5-person travel group (BCDEF) tested positive. After transfer to the MIF, person A and group BCDEF occupied rooms >2 meters apart across a corridor. Persons B, C, and D subsequently tested positive; viral sequences matched A and were distinct from E. The MIF was the only shared location of persons A and B, C, and D, and they had no direct contact. Security camera footage revealed 4 brief episodes of simultaneous door opening during person A’s infectious period. This public health investigation demonstrates transmission from A to B, C, and D while in the MIF, with airborne transmission the most plausible explanation. These findings are of global importance for coronavirus disease public health interventions and infection control practices.
AB - In New Zealand, international arrivals are quarantined and undergo severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 screening; those who test positive are transferred to a managed isolation facility (MIF). Solo traveler A and person E from a 5-person travel group (BCDEF) tested positive. After transfer to the MIF, person A and group BCDEF occupied rooms >2 meters apart across a corridor. Persons B, C, and D subsequently tested positive; viral sequences matched A and were distinct from E. The MIF was the only shared location of persons A and B, C, and D, and they had no direct contact. Security camera footage revealed 4 brief episodes of simultaneous door opening during person A’s infectious period. This public health investigation demonstrates transmission from A to B, C, and D while in the MIF, with airborne transmission the most plausible explanation. These findings are of global importance for coronavirus disease public health interventions and infection control practices.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125012642&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2803.212318
DO - https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2803.212318
M3 - Article
C2 - 34965365
SN - 1080-6040
VL - 28
SP - 501
EP - 509
JO - Emerging infectious diseases
JF - Emerging infectious diseases
IS - 3
ER -