SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Risk from sports Equipment (STRIKE)

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the potential of shared sporting equipment as transmission vectors of SARS-CoV-2 during the reintroduction of sports such as soccer, rugby, cricket, tennis, golf and gymnastics. SETTINGLaboratory based live SARS-CoV-2 virus study INTERVENTIONSTen different types of sporting equipment were inoculated with 40l droplets containing clinically relevant high and low concentrations of live SARS-CoV-2 virus. Materials were then swabbed at time points relevant to sports (1, 5, 15, 30, 90 minutes). The amount of live SARS-CoV-2 recovered at each time point was enumerated using viral plaque assays, and viral decay and half-life was estimated through fitting linear models to log transformed data from each material. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREThe primary outcome measure was quantification of retrievable SARS-CoV-2 virus from each piece of equipment at pre-determined time points. RESULTSAt one minute, SARS-CoV-2 virus was recovered in only seven of the ten types of equipment with the low dose inoculum, one at five minutes and none at 15 minutes. Retrievable virus dropped significantly for all materials tested using the high dose inoculum with mean recovery of virus falling to 0.74% at 1 minute, 0.39% at 15 minutes and 0.003% at 90 minutes. Viral recovery, predicted decay, and half-life varied between materials with porous surfaces limiting virus transmission. CONCLUSIONSThis study shows that there is an exponential reduction in SARS-CoV-2 recoverable from a range of sports equipment after a short time period, and virus is less transferrable from materials such as a tennis ball, red cricket ball and cricket glove. Given this rapid loss of viral load and the fact that transmission requires a significant inoculum to be transferred from equipment to the mucous membranes of another individual it seems unlikely that sports equipment is a major cause for transmission of SARS-CoV-2. These findings have important policy implications in the context of the pandemic and may promote other infection control measures in sports to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and urge sports equipment manufacturers to identify surfaces that may or may not be likely to retain transferable virus. O_TEXTBOXWHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPICO_LITransmission of SARS-CoV-2 between individuals playing sport may be via respiratory droplets when in close proximity to an infected person. C_LIO_LISARS-CoV-2 remains viable on a variety of surfaces resulting in recommendations to reduce the sharing of sports equipment such as tennis balls when sports were re-opened. C_LI WHAT THIS STUDY ADDSO_LIThe recoverable SARS-CoV-2 viral load reduces exponentially with mean viral load of all materials less than 1% of the original inoculum after 1 minute. C_LIO_LIThe type of material has a significant effect on SARS-CoV-2 transfer, with less virus transferred from porous materials such as bovine leather or nylon woven cloth. C_LIO_LIPolicies on infection control measures in sport may be better directed towards areas other than reducing the sharing of sports equipment. C_LIO_LISports equipment manufacturers may consider using materials that absorb or retain virus as a way of reducing viral transmission from sports equipment. C_LI C_TEXTBOX