A strong study found that the strong summer sun is capable of removing 90 percent or more of coronaviruses living on surfaces in just 34 minutes.
Scientists suggest that “midday sunlight in most US cities and the world during the summer” is extremely effective in inactivating the virus that causes COVID-19 when it has been coughed or sneezed on a surface, according to the study published earlier this month.
He found that the virus is most infectious from December through March, when it can live on the surface for up to a day or more “at risk of re-aerosolization and transmission in most of these cities.”
The study, which appeared in the journal of photochemistry and photobiology, It was written by Jose-Luis Sagripanti and David Lytle, retired scientists from the US Army. USA and the Food and Drug Administration, respectively.
The couple examined how well UVB in sunlight destroyed the virus in various cities around the world at different times of the year. They used a model that previously estimated the solar inactivation of viruses such as Ebola and Lassa.
The study also suggests that mandatory stay-at-home orders issued in hopes of stopping the spread of the coronavirus may have been more harmful than good.
“In contrast, healthy people outdoors receiving sunlight may have been exposed to lower viral doses with more chance of developing an efficient immune response,” the study said.
Previous research has shown that during the 1918-19 ‘Spanish flu outbreak, patients who were exposed to fresh air and sunlight in “open air hospitals” may have had a better chance of survival.
The new evidence comes months after health experts rejected the idea that the virus does not spread as much in warmer climates.
.
