LAUSR

COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic worldwide [1]. One possible mechanism for the spread of this virus is an aerial transmission via droplets generated during speech. In the setting of echocardiography, the risk of infection is particularly high because observers must be in close proximity to the patient. Thus, personal protection is crucial in the COVID-19 era [2]. An important infection prevention method is equipment care. The machine console is where the observer touches the most, but the extent of where droplets could possibly spread is not well examined. The aim of this study was to identify the extent of oral fluid droplet spread on echocardiographic machine consoles, after observers were speaking in English or Japanese.