Coronavirus lives for hours in air particles and days on surfaces, new US study shows
- Researchers found the virus was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper and up to 24 hours on cardboard.
- COVID-19 can also last up to three days on plastic and stainless steel, the scientists concluded.
The new
coronavirus can survive for several hours in air particles and last days on surfaces, according to a new federally funded study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UCLA and Princeton University examined how long COVID-19 survives in the air as well as on copper, cardboard, plastic and stainless steel and then compared it with SARS, the coronavirus that emerged in late 2002 and killed nearly 800 people.
They found that COVID-19 was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper and up to 24 hours on cardboard. The new coronavirus can also last up to three days on plastic and stainless steel, the scientists concluded, adding the amount of the virus left on those surfaces decreases over time. Aerosols are solid or liquid particles that hang in the air, including fog, dust, and gas commonly used in medical procedures like ventilation and nebulizers.
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https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/coro...udy-shows.html