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TOKYO The coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours, Japanese researchers discovered, in a discovery they said showed the need for frequent hand washing to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
By comparison, the pathogen that causes the flu survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours, according to the study published this month in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
“The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes COVID-19) in human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission compared to IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic, “he said. .
The research team examined skin obtained from autopsy samples about a day after death. Both the coronavirus and the flu virus are inactivated in 15 seconds by applying ethanol, which is used in hand sanitizers.
“The greater survival of SARSCoV-2 in the skin increases the risk of transmission by contact; however, hand hygiene can reduce this risk, ”the study said.
The study supports the World Health Organization’s guidance for regular and thorough hand washing to limit transmission of the virus, which has infected nearly 40 million people worldwide since it first appeared in China late. from last year.
Europe battles growing burden of virus cases
Millions of Europeans faced heavy restrictions over the new coronavirus on Saturday as governments stepped up efforts to curb the rise in infections after the World Health Organization reported a “very worrying” 44 percent increase in European cases for a week.
Starting Saturday night, Paris and several other French cities go through a night curfew that will last at least a month.
England is banning co-ed family gatherings in the capital and other areas, and Italy’s most populated region is limiting the opening of bars and suspending sporting events.
Cases of the disease, which has killed more than 1.1 million people worldwide, have skyrocketed beyond levels seen in the first wave earlier this year, when many countries resorted to national closures to control the crisis.
In addition to the death toll, the pandemic has caused social and economic havoc around the world.
The United States, which has suffered the worst death toll with more than 218,000 deaths, on Friday revealed a record deficit of $ 3.1 trillion in the fiscal year that ended September 30.
He also announced that the number of cases had exceeded eight million.
Global daily infections also hit a new record.
In an attempt to halt the worrying rise in infections and in the hope of avoiding a return to full lockdowns, many governments have tightened measures to control the spread of the pandemic, even if some dissidents are fighting in court.
Curfews, closings, legal battles
About 20 million people in the Paris region and eight other French cities were facing a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew since Saturday after cases spiked in what has once again become one of the main hot spots in Europe.
French health authorities registered more than 25,000 new cases of coronavirus, with 178 deaths. Many restaurant owners are unhappy with the blow to their businesses.
Britain is the worst affected country in Europe, with more than 43,000 deaths out of almost 700,000 cases.
But as the government increased restrictions, banning indoor gatherings between members of different households in London and several other English cities, there was mounting criticism from some quarters. Under the new measures, around 28 million people, half of England’s population, are now subject to strict social restrictions.
Some North West England officials have opposed their cities being placed at the highest level of a new three-tier alert system.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has acknowledged that local restriction policies cannot be “painless.”
But the hope is that these measures are enough to avoid another total lockdown.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland closed pubs and restaurants on Friday for a month and extended school holidays.
Increasing cases, stricter measures German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged citizens to stay home whenever possible after 7,830 cases emerged in 24 hours.
“What will determine winter and our Christmas will be decided in the coming weeks by how people react now,” he said in his weekly podcast address.
In Italy, the wealthy northern Lombardy region hardest hit by the first wave of the virus in February, ordered all bars to close at midnight.
Slovakia announced on Saturday that it would screen everyone 10 and older for the virus, as infections increased there.
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