The coronavirus can survive on items such as banknotes and phones for up to 28 days.
Brisbane, Australia:
The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 can survive on items such as banknotes and phones for up to 28 days in cool and dark conditions, according to a study by the Australian National Science Agency.
Researchers at CSIRO’s Disease Preparedness Center tested the longevity of SARS-CoV-2 in darkness at three temperatures, showing that survival rates were declining as conditions got warmer, the agency said on Monday. .
Scientists found that at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), SARS-CoV-2 was “extremely tough” on smooth surfaces – like cell phone screens – surviving for 28 days on glass banknotes, in steel and plastic.
At 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), the survival rate dropped to seven days and plunged to just 24 hours at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
The virus survived for shorter periods of time on porous surfaces such as cotton – up to 14 days at the lowest temperatures and less than 16 hours at the highest – according to the researchers.
This was “significantly longer” than previous studies which showed the disease could survive for up to four days on non-porous surfaces, according to the article published in the Virology Journal.
Trevor Drew, director of the Australian Center for Disease Preparedness, said the study involved drying samples of the virus on different materials before testing them, using an “extremely sensitive” method that found traces of live virus capable of infecting cell cultures.
“It doesn’t mean that this amount of virus would be able to infect someone,” he told public broadcaster ABC.
He added that if a person “neglected these materials and touched them and then licked their hands or touched your eyes or nose, you could very well be infected more than two weeks after they were contaminated.”
People “ far more contagious ”
Drew said there were several caveats, including that the study was conducted with fixed levels of the virus that likely represented the peak of a typical infection, and that there was no exposure to ultraviolet light, which can quickly break down the virus.
Humidity was kept stable at 50%, according to the study, as increases in humidity were also found to be detrimental to the virus.
According to CSIRO, the virus appears to spread primarily through the air, but more research was needed to provide additional information on the transmission of the virus through surfaces.
“While the precise role of surface transmission, the degree of surface contact, and the amount of virus needed for infection remains to be determined, it is critical to determine how long this virus remains viable on surfaces to develop. risk mitigation strategies in high contact areas, ”said Debbie Eagles of CSIRO.
The main message remains that “infectious people are far more contagious than surfaces,” Drew told ABC.
“But nonetheless, it may help explain why even when we got rid of infectious people, sometimes we get these rashes again, sometimes even in a country considered free,” he said.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
