EN EN

The coronavirus remains on the surface for hours to days. What does it depend on?

Dominika Šimončičová

0 ratings
The new coronavirus, which caused the global health crisis, can be dangerous in droplets floating in the air for several hours, and on some types of surfaces it can survive for days. The weather is also affected by the spread, it stays on coins for longer than on banknotes, but there is also effective disinfection.

The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 affects the primary respiratory tract and thus typically spreads by droplet infection. Except, there's one catch.

The disease is also spread by people without symptoms. In fact, they seem healthy to us, they don't even have to cough or sneeze at us. You can press the button in the elevator, the handle or grab the shopping cart.

In terms of survival on the surface of objects, the lifespan of the virus varied significantly between different materials. It is said that SARS-CoV-2 remains active on the cardboard for up to 24 hours, on a plastic or stainless steel surface a "functional" virus was recorded even after three days. The shortest was its lifetime on copper, where the authors of the new study did not detect the virus after four hours.

Source: Dezinfekcia kľučiek (26.3.2020)

Out only with a veil

The virus can survive suspended in the air for up to 3 hours. You read well. The Earth's gravity in the case of these microscopic invaders does not seem to work according to our rules. In the imagination of lay people, the droplets fall straight to the ground after coughing, which is well visible especially in daylight. But basically, there are microcapsules that protect the virus like a spaceship, and so they behave in space.

The only way to prevent them from spreading or to protect yourself from them is to use a veil or respirator, which fits well to the face and seals around the nose, under the chin and on the cheeks.

Wear disposables only once and when you return home, fold them so that you only catch them with rubber bands. Never touch the front of the drape, which may be contaminated. Then throw the device in a closed basket.

If you have sewed the drape, also use it once, wash it at a temperature of 60 to 90 ° C. After drying, iron it.

Source: Rúško na tvári (26.3.2020)

Problem surfaces

The virus lives longest on stainless steel and polypropylene, a typical plastic used extensively for the manufacture of toys and car parts. It can be on these surfaces for up to 3 days. However, the new coronavirus can be kept on the carton three times longer than SARS: 24 hours, compared to 8 hours.

At 20 ° C, the virus survives 2 days on steel, 4 days on wood and glass, 5 days on metal, plastic and ceramic.
It is kept on aluminum for 2 to 8 hours, in the case of latex a little less than 8 hours.

What is the conclusion? We should be extremely careful with smooth surfaces. The best media for transmitting the virus are the handles and table surfaces.

Banknotes are safe, cell phone is a risk

On the contrary, the structured surface with the pores captures the coronavirus and gets stuck in it like in a trap, where it dies much earlier. We are talking about substances, hair and, yes, money.
Coins have a higher potential to transmit infection than banknotes, there is a lot of bacilli on their surface, so it is necessary to use hand disinfectant after payment, or to wash them properly with soap at home. The seedbed of the virus can be a mobile phone. It must also be disinfected upon arrival from the outside.
Ideal if you use a damp cloth with an alcoholic solution or a cotton swab with disinfectant to wipe. Never spray the product directly on the device to avoid damaging it.

The weather helps or hurts him

Coronavirus is weather dependent. It thrives better at lower temperatures, which are suitable for its protective case. At higher temperatures and dry weather, this protective shield dries out and fully exposes it to conditions that are incompatible with the virus for its existence. Conversely, droplet infection benefits from higher humidity, wind, and a solid surface that can be trapped.

Source: Teplé počasie (26.3.2020)

Effective disinfection

In general, human coronavirus could be "effectively inactivated" on surfaces within 1 minute using solutions containing 62% to 71% alcohol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite, i.e. chlorine-containing compositions.

share on
Reported by: Dominika Šimončičová
Updated on: 27.3.2020
Source: GoSlovakia


It might interest you