Coronavirus can be active for up to nine days on surfaces

[Health and Medicine]

"Coronaviruses last up to nine days on jacks and bells"

Coronaviruses can remain on surfaces and become infectious for up to nine days at room temperature. On average, they survive four to five days, writes a research team from Greifswald and Bochum in the "Journal of Hospital Infection". "Cold and high humidity are still increasing their service life," Günter Kampf of the Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine at the University Medicine Greifswald said on Friday.

Since there is no specific therapy against coronaviruses, the prevention of contagion is important. Like all droplet infections, the virus spreads through hands and surfaces, which are often touched. "In the hospital, for example, these can be doorknobs, but also bells, bedside tables, bed frames and other objects in the immediate vicinity of patients," Kampf explained. 

Together with virologist Eike Steinmann from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Kampf had compiled findings from studies on coronaviruses and their inactivation for a planned textbook. Based on the current situation, they published the scientific facts in advance. They assume that their findings on other coronaviruses are transmissible to the new virus 2019-nCoV. "Different coronaviruses were studied, and the results were all similar," Steinmann explained.

For disinfection, the researchers recommend means based on ethanol, hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite. Applying these in the right concentration, they drastically reduced the number of infectious coronaviruses within one minute – from one million to only 100 disease-causing particles. If preparations are used on a different drug basis, they should at least have a limited effect against viruses. "As a rule, this is enough to significantly reduce the risk of contagion," Kampf said. Other researchers had previously advised more frequent hand washing. (dpa)

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