The COVID-19 virus can survive for up to 28 days on paper bank notes, stainless steel and glass surfaces such as mobile phone screens compared to porous surfaces such as cotton, according to new research.
There’s lots we don’t know about coronavirus, but the longer the pandemic goes on, the more we learn about how long the virus can survive on different types of surfaces.
Interesting findings from Australia’s national science agency CSIRO found that Sars-CoV-2 was “extremely robust” at 20°c, or room temperature. The study also found that the virus survived longer at lower temperatures. In comparison, the flu virus can survive in the same circumstances for 17 days.
The experiment however was conducted in the dark. UV light has already been shown to kill the virus but some experts have thrown doubt on the actual threat posed by surface transmission in real life situations.
Dr Debbie Eagles, deputy director of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, said:
“Our results show that SARS-CoV-2 can remain infectious on surfaces for long periods of time, reinforcing the need for good practices such as regular handwashing and cleaning surfaces.
“At 20 degrees Celsius, which is about room temperature, we found that the virus was extremely robust, surviving for 28 days on smooth surfaces such as glass found on mobile phone screens and plastic banknotes.
“For context, similar experiments for Influenza A have found that it survived on surfaces for 17 days, which highlights just how resilient SARS-CoV-2 is.”
This research is a worthwhile reminder that, whenever you’re handling your mobile phone, you don’t know what’s lurking there microscopically. So keep washing those hands, and perhaps even start cleaning your phone screen too, every now and then.
