HOW LONG DOES THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS SURVIVES ON SURFACES?
Covid-19 normally spreads from a person to person.
When an infected person sneezes or coughs, droplets containing the virus spread in the surrounding area. Any healthy person could come in contact with these and get infected. One can get infected even when they get into contact with the things or artifacts contaminated with the virus particles.
There were a lot of speculations regarding how long this virus remains viable outside the body of the host like on surfaces, things, air, metals, and other artifacts, until recently. So it is important to know that how long this virus remains viable outside the body!!
Viability of SARS-CoV2 on surfaces
A new study examined how long the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) can live in the air and on certain artifacts
The study looked at how long the virus can remain viable in the air, and on plastic, copper, stainless steel, cardboard, etc. The time is different for each artifact. For instance, it remains viable on wood for around 4 days. Examples: furniture, decking
- For Copper, it’s around 4 hours.
- For Aluminium, it’s around 2-8 hours.
- And for other metals it’s around 4 days.
- This virus remains viable for around 2-3 days on plastics and stainless steel and it remains viable for around 5 days on glass.
- No viable amount of Virus that can infect people was found on Cardboard after 24 hours. Examples: shipping boxes
- It was found on ceramics for upto 5 days
- Some strains of coronavirus can remain viable for only few minutes on paper, while some might remain viable for upto 5 days
- Scientists also allowed the aerosols to be suspended in air and found traces of this virus upto 3 hours. But it does not mean it stays suspended for that long in air in real life scenario as the aerosols are heavy and thus fall on the surface. This virus is not airborne
What we can do to avoid any infection?
The answer is pretty simple: stay at home and that’s how you can prevent yourself as well as others.
- Don’t rush to overstock things.
- Wash your hands for around 20 seconds with soap after you visit any store or come from somewhere outside, as the things might be contaminated with the virus particles.
- Follow the guidelines issued by your government.
- One more thing, keep your smartphone clean regularly as it might be contagious.
- Follow hygienic habits.
- Stay at home and stay safe!!
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