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>>Novel coronavirus was detected on a chopping board for imported salmon at Xinfadi market, and nine related people have been put into quarantine even though their test results were negative, Zhang Yuxi, head of the Xinfadi market, told the Beijing News on Friday.

Does anyone knows how this sort of surface test/detection works ?

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Likely detection of viral RNA, which does not mean anything by itself (it does not equate to infectious virus).

There haven't been many studies (to my knowledge) that actually try to see if surface transmission is a thing. The most sophisticated ones try to culture virus in cells from sampling on surfaces, but that's not sufficient anymore: cells in culture don't have an immune system, nor physical barriers like the nose and mouth. It is likely that animal testing is required at this point.

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