COVID-19 RNA found on surfaces after asymptomatic patients' eye examsCOVID-19 genetic material—not necessarily live virus—was found on surfaces in a 1-meter (3.3-foot) diameter circle where asymptomatic patients who had passed coronavirus triage had eye exams, according to a small study published yesterday in JAMA Ophthalmology.The quality-improvement study was performed on Mar 20, 1 week after the first confirmed COVID-19 case was identified at Tepecik Training and Research Hospital in Izmir, Turkey.
Seven samples were taken for reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing from eye exam devices and door handles both before and after 22 ophthalmologic patients and nine companions had been in the exam room.