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While all of the studies predate the current pandemic, the authors said the virus responsible for COVID-19 – SARS-CoV-2 – is likely to be present in cell phones and other touchscreen devices in patients with coronavirus.
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The research, led by Associate Professor Lotti Tajouri of Bond University in Australia, reviewed 56 studies from 24 countries and found that the phones harbor an amazing cocktail of live germs.
“Our recommendation is that phones be decontaminated daily and regularly with 70 percent isopropyl or disinfecting with (ultraviolet) devices like PhoneSoap,” said the study published in the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Diseases.
The systematic review found that golden staphylococcus and E. coli microbes were among the most common errors on phones.
According to the researchers, the mobile devices were “five-star hotels with premium, heated spas, a free buffet for microbes to thrive.”
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“They have temperature control, we keep them in our pockets, we are addicted to them, we talk to them and we deposit droplets that can be full of viruses, bacteria, whatever.” We eat with them, so we give the microorganisms nutrients, “said Tajouri.
“And no one, absolutely no one, washes or decontaminates their phone,” added Tajouri.
He said that people traveled with their phones “and that no border officer checked them. It surely causes biosecurity concerns.
“That is why mobile phones are Trojan horses. We do not know that we are carrying the enemy,” he said.
Dr. Tajouri said that phone superusers touched their devices up to 5,000 times a day and even the average user handled them an average of three hours a day.
According to investigators, community transmission could occur when an infected person touches their phone and then a pole on a bus that was grabbed by an older person.
“The remarkably rapid contagion that has puzzled scientists could reside within these mobile phones that spread COVID-19 everywhere at high speed,” said Dr. Tajouri.
Let’s take that hypothesis seriously. If we clean our phones on a daily basis and this makes a difference, we could with this little curve of action reduce the COVID-19 epidemic and save lives, the researchers said.
In March, speaking to IANS, doctors in India advised that in addition to washing hands regularly, one should also disinfect their smartphone every 90 minutes with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
“At the time of fear of coronavirus, smartphones should also be disinfected with an alcohol-based disinfectant. Pour a few drops of disinfectant on a small clean cotton pad and rub it safely across your phone,” Jyoti Mutta, Senior Consultant , Microbiology, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute in New Delhi, had said.
