In a new study, researchers found that the new coronavirus can live in the air for several hours and on some surfaces for as long as two to three days.
But the finding doesn’t prove that anyone has been infected through breathing it from the air or by touching contaminated surfaces.
The research was conducted by a team at the National Institutes of Health.
The new coronavirus emerged in China late last year, and it has infected more than 120,000 people worldwide and caused more than 4,300 deaths.
It far more than the 2003 SARS outbreak caused by a genetically similar virus.
In the study, the team used a nebulizer device to put samples of the new virus into the air, imitating what might happen if an infected person coughed or made the virus airborne some other way.
They found that viable virus could be detected up to three hours later in the air, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to 2-3 days on plastic and stainless steel.
The researchers found similar results from tests they did on the virus that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak.
The team says the study does not say there is aerosolized transmission of the virus.
But this work shows that the virus stays viable for long periods in those conditions, so it’s theoretically possible.
What people need to be doing is washing their hands, being aware that those who are infected may be contaminating surfaces, and keeping hands away from the face.
As for the best way to kill the virus, the team says cleaning surfaces with solutions containing diluted bleach is likely to get rid of it.
The lead author of the study is Neeltje van Doremalen at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The study is published in medRxiv. It is a website to discuss work that has not yet been reviewed by other scientists but can be quickly shared with other scientists.
Copyright © 2020 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
