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The new coronavirus can survive for at least 28 days on surfaces like plastic and steel at 20 degrees Fahrenheit, at room temperature, according to a study by the Australian scientific agency published today.
SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the pandemic that infected more than 37 million people on the planet and caused more than a million deaths, can survive 10 days longer than the flu virus, said the Organization for Research Commonwealth of Australia Scientific and Industrial (CSIRO).
“At 20 degrees Celsius, which is room temperature, we found the virus to be extremely strong, surviving 28 days on smooth surfaces like glass, found on cell phones and plastic cards,” said the deputy director of the Australian Center for Preparedness. of CSIRO diseases, Debbie Eagles, quoted by the Efe news agency.
At 30 degrees Celsius, the virus’ chances of survival are reduced to 21 days on paper bills and seven days on plastic or stainless steel cards.
If the temperature is 40 degrees, SARS-CoV-2 can be kept for 48 hours on plastic surfaces, one day on glass, steel, paper and plastic, and less than 16 hours on cotton clothing, according to the study , published in the scientific journal Virology Journal.
The researchers, whose research suggests that high temperatures reduce the chance of COVID-19 infections, inserted viruses into artificial mucus and placed similar amounts of samples taken from infected patients on various surfaces.
They then re-isolated the coronavirus for a month under varying temperature conditions, placing the samples in the dark, to eliminate the effect of ultraviolet rays.
“Although the precise role of surface transmission, the degree of contact and the amount of virus required for infection have not yet been determined, we can establish how long this virus survives on surfaces,” said the same source.
The director of CSIRO’s Australian Center for Disease Preparedness, Trevor Drew, said, however, that survival time depends on the type and amount of virus, the surface, environmental conditions or the way it is expelled from the body.
“Proteins and fats in human fluids also significantly increase the survival time of the virus,” he explained.
Scientists hope that the discovery will contribute to developing risk reduction strategies in high contact areas and try to understand the apparent persistent spread in cold environments with high protein and lipid contamination, such as slaughterhouses.
The covid-19 pandemic has already claimed more than one million seventy-four thousand deaths and more than 37.2 million cases of contagion worldwide, according to a report prepared by the France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected in late December in Wuhan, a city in central China.
After Europe succeeded China as the center of the pandemic in February, the Americas are now the one with the most confirmed cases and the most deaths.
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