
A dried droplet of SARS-CoV-2 in artificial mucous, on glass, twenty-four hours after application.
COVID-19 causing virus lasts for 10 days longer than Influenza on some surfaces. Lower temps, glass, stainless steel and paper banknotes give virus longer life.
Researchers at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, have found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, can survive for up to 28 days on common surfaces including banknotes, glass – such as that found on mobile phone screens – and stainless steel.
The research, undertaken at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong, found that SARS-CoV-2:
- survived longer at lower temperatures
- tended to survive longer on non-porous or smooth surfaces such as glass, stainless steel and vinyl, compared to porous complex surfaces such as cotton
- survived longer on paper banknotes than plastic banknotes.
Results from the study The effect of temperature on persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on common surfaces was published in Virology Journal.
CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said surface survivability research builds on the national science agency’s other COVID-19 work, including vaccine testing, wastewater testing, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) manufacture and accreditation, and big data dashboards supporting each state.
“Establishing how long the virus really remains viable on surfaces enables us to more accurately predict and mitigate its spread, and do a better job of protecting our people,” Dr Marshall said.
Dr Debbie Eagles is Deputy Director of ACDP, which has been working on both understanding the virus and testing a potential vaccine.
“Our results show that SARS-CoV-2 can remain infectious on surfaces for long periods of time, reinforcing the need for good practices such as regular handwashing and cleaning surfaces,” Dr Eagles said.
“At 20 degrees Celsius, which is about room temperature, we found that the virus was extremely robust, surviving for 28 days on smooth surfaces such as glass found on mobile phone screens and plastic banknotes.“ For context, similar experiments for Influenza A have found that it survived on surfaces for 17 days, which highlights just how resilient SARS-CoV-2 is.”
The research involved drying virus in an artificial mucus on different surfaces, at concentrations similar to those reported in samples from infected patients and then re-isolating the virus over a month. Further experiments were carried out at 30 and 40 degrees Celsius, with survival times decreasing as the temperature increased.
“Together, we hope this suite of solutions from science will break down the barriers between us, and shift focus to dealing with specific virus hotspots so we can get the economy back on track.
“We can only defeat this virus as Team Australia with the best Australian science, working alongside industry, government, research and the Australian community.”
The study was also carried out in the dark, to remove the effect of UV light as research has demonstrated direct sunlight can rapidly inactivate the virus.“While the precise role of surface transmission, the degree of surface contact and the amount of virus required for infection is yet to be determined, establishing how long this virus remains viable on surfaces is critical for developing risk mitigation strategies in high contact areas,” Dr Eagles said.
Director of ACDP Professor Trevor Drew said many viruses remained viable on surfaces outside their host. “How long they can survive and remain infectious depends on the type of virus, quantity, the surface, environmental conditions and how it’s deposited – for example touch vs droplets emitted by coughing,” Professor Drew said.
“Proteins and fats in body fluids can also significantly increase virus survival times.”
The research may also help to explain the apparent persistence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 in cool environments with high lipid or protein contamination, such as meat processing facilities and how we might better address that risk.”
CSIRO, in partnership with Australian Department of Defence, undertook the studies in collaboration with the 5 Nation Research and Development (5RD) Council, which comprises representatives from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Each country is conducting research on different aspects of virus survivability with the results shared as they become available.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Covid-19 viability on surfaces
- Ultrasound selfies: With little training, patients could produce high-quality medical images at home
One day, the ultrasound equipment that health care professionals use for essential diagnostic imaging may no longer be confined to the clinic, instead operated by patients in the comfort of their ...
- Can You Get Coronavirus From Objects or Surfaces?
Among them: Can you get coronavirus from touching objects? Does coronavirus live on surfaces? To be sure, there’s a lot that’s not known about coronavirus. It’s a relatively new virus on the ...
- How to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19
When someone with COVID-19 breathes, speaks, coughs or sneezes, they release small droplets containing the virus. You can catch it by breathing in these droplets or touching surfaces covered in them.
- Tips to prevent coronavirus transmission
The global spread of coronavirus means that many people will ... The hands come into contact with several surfaces throughout the day, and they may pick up viruses this way. A new report suggests ...
- Terrifying black light videos show how easy it is to catch coronavirus
A new study looking at the novel coronavirus on surfaces shows the importance of PPE for frontliners caring for COVID-19 patients. Researchers used black light and a special substance to ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Covid-19 viability on surfaces
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Covid-19 viability on surfaces” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
SARS-CoV-2 viability on surfaces
- SARS-CoV-2 hijacks body's metabolism to amplify COVID-19 severity
In a review article published in the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, scientists have discussed host metabolic alteration triggered by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ...
- Gastrointestinal complications caused by SARS-CoV-2
The sudden and rapid outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused the coronavirus ... of immune responses at mucosal surfaces. Taken together, the gut ...
- Essential process for SARS-CoV-2 viral replication visualized
During the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a long string of connected proteins is cleaved apart into individual proteins. This process is interrupted by an FDA-approved drug to treat COVID-19 ...
- New Technology Improves SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine-Induced Immune Responses
This approach is based on a new technology that induces production of self-assembling enveloped virus-like particles (eVLPs) containing dense arrays of spike proteins on their surfaces. 6 Hoffmann and ...
- New Data Reveal Role of SARS-Cov-2 Spike Protein in Covid-19 Associated Coagulopathy
Unprecedented comprehension of the interaction between Spike and the Human Estrogen Receptor Alfa provides insights for a new generation of anti SARS-CoV-2 and pan-Coronavirus vaccines Italian ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
SARS-CoV-2 viability on surfaces
[google_news title=”” keyword=”SARS-CoV-2 viability on surfaces” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]