COVID-19 Outbreak at a Geriatric Rehabilitation Facility: The Silent Threat of Asymptomatic Patients with High Viral Loads

Data about outbreaks of nosocomial COVID-19 disease within geriatric rehabilitation facilities are scarce. In this retrospective case series analysis, we describe such an outbreak, determine the proportion of a-/presymptomatic patients, the median time before symptom onset among presymptomatic patients and investigate whether the viral load differs between patients with and without symptoms. Typical and atypical symptoms were retrieved from the electronic medical records of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 disease during their stay at a 95-bed geriatric rehabilitation facility. The viral load at the time of diagnosis was estimated on cycle threshold values of the rRT-PCR test. Overall, 34 patients (median age, 87 years; range, 66–98; 67% female) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. During the same period, 19 health care workers were also diagnosed with COVID-19. Among the 27 patients who provided consent, 20 (74%) were symptomatic at the time of testing. Among the remaining seven patients, six developed symptoms after a median of 2 days. A viral load > 10(6) copies/mL was observed in 20 out of the 27 patients, including five out of the seven initially asymptomatic patients. The rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the prevalence of initially asymptomatic patients with high viral loads support an extended screening strategy at such facilities.