Sowerby LJ, Nichols AC, Gibson R, et al. - Studies have described detection of live severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in saliva, sputum, bile, feces, and blood and its viability in aerosols for at least 3 hours. Several colleges and associations have raised safety concerns regarding its direct transmission to surgical staff from aerosolized virus in an electrocautery plume (as observed with other viruses). Researchers herein sought to determine the presence of live SARS-CoV-2 in electrocautery plumes. Using 3 different methods (monopolar cut, monopolar coagulate, and bipolar electrocautery [Erbe USA]), they applied electrocautery at 25 W for 1 minute on raw chicken breast with an added 4 mL of Dulbecco modified eagle medium (DMEM) or a DMEM:blood mixture containing 1 × 10^5.7 median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID₅₀) per mL of SARS-CoV-2, similar to the viral load in pulmonary sputum of a patient with symptoms. During the monopolar cut, monopolar coagulate, and bipolar electrocautery, vapourization of an estimated volume of 1.7 ± 0.3 mL, 1.5 ± 0.1 mL, and 1.0 ± 0.2 mL of liquid was done, respectively, and its collection was done using a Western AirScan air sampler at 60 L per minute onto a gelatin filter in triplicate (Sartorius Canada). For a positive control, they aerosolized (without heat) about 0.3 mL of both viral media and blood with SARS-CoV-2 into the chamber and performed collection in the same fashion. Findings revealed no detection of SARS-CoV-2 in aerosol cautery plume produced from electrocautery under any of the conditions studied despite using high viral titers. By mimicking surgery on a patient with a high SARS-CoV-2 load, a minimum of a 9 log decrease in viral RNA was observed with any of the electrocautery methods. This suggests that SARS-CoV-2 transmission is unlikely among healthcare workers because of electrocautery smoke.