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. 2020 Dec 28;35(50):e431.
doi: 10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e431.

Risk of COVID-19 Transmission from Infected Outpatients to Healthcare Workers in an Outpatient Clinic

Hyemin Chung  1 , Eun Ok Kim  2 , Sung Han Kim  1   2 , Jiwon Jung  1   3
Affiliations

Risk of COVID-19 Transmission from Infected Outpatients to Healthcare Workers in an Outpatient Clinic

Hyemin Chung et al. J Korean Med Sci. .

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 (SARS-CoV-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.

Keywords: COVID-19; Healthcare Workers; Outpatient; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Chronology of symptom onset, clinic visit, and coronavirus disease 2019 diagnosis.
EGD = esophagogastroduodenoscopy, EKG = electrocardiogram, PET = positron emission tomography.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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