Covid-19: How long does the coronavirus last on surfaces?
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In the areas worst hit by the new coronavirus, teams of workers in protective clothing have been dispatched to spray a fog of disinfectant in plazas, parks and public streets. Cleaning regimes in offices, hospitals, shops and restaurants have been increased. In some cities, well-meaning volunteers even venture out at night to scrub the keypads of cash machines.
Like many respiratory viruses, including flu, Covid-19 can be spread in tiny droplets released from the nose and mouth of an infected person as they cough. A single cough
can produce up to 3,000 droplets. These particles can land on other people, clothing and surfaces around them, but some of the
smaller particles can remain in the air. There is also some evidence that the
virus is also shed for longer in faecal matter, so anyone not washing their hands thoroughly after visiting the toilet could contaminate anything they touch.
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Some studies on other coronaviruses, including Sars and Mers, found they can
survive on metal, glass and plastic for as long as nine days, unless they are properly disinfected. Some can even hang around for up to 28 days in low temperatures.
Coronaviruses are well known to be particularly resilient in terms of where they can survive. And researchers are now beginning to understand more about how this affects the spread of the new coronavirus. (
Read more about the global fight against Covid-19.)
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... the virus could survive in droplets for up to
three hours after being coughed out into the air.
Fine droplets between 1-5 micrometres in size – about 30 times small than the width of a human hair –
can remain airborne for several hours in still air.
It means that t
he virus circulating in unfiltered air conditioning systems will only persist for a couple of hours at the most, especially as aerosol droplets tend to
settle on surfaces faster in disturbed air.
But the NIH study found that the
SARS-CoV-2 virus survives for longer on cardboard – up to 24 hours – and up to 2-3 days on plastic and stainless-steel surfaces.
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... research has shown that coronaviruses can be inactivated within a minute by
disinfecting surfaces with 62-71% alcohol, or 0.5% hydrogen peroxide bleach or household bleach containing 0.1% sodium hypochlorite. Higher temperatures and humidity also tend to result in
other coronaviruses dying quicker, although research has shown that a related coronavirus that causes Sars could be killed by
temperatures above 56°C or 132°F (hotter than even a bath scalding enough to cause injury) at a rate of about 10,000 viral particles every 15 minutes.
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On clothing and other surfaces harder to disinfect, it is not yet clear how long the virus can survive. Although they are still do test it on clothing, the absorbent natural fibres may cause the virus to dry up quickly, suggests Vincent Munster, head of the virus ecology section at Rocky Mountain Laboratories and one of those who led the NIH study.
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