Coronavirus Can “Survive on Some Surfaces for Up to 28 Days”
According to Australian researchers, ATMs, digital payment devices in stores, and check-in kiosks at airports are among the items that could be effective in the spread of coronavirus.
A figure that has sparked amazement among many researchers and scientists is the number 28. A number of Australian researchers, through conducting research on the persistence and ability of coronavirus to survive, have announced that under certain conditions, this virus can remain alive on some objects and surfaces for up to 28 days.
Debbie Eagles, Deputy Director of Australia’s Center for Infectious Disease Control, has stated: “Coronavirus at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, that is, at the normal temperature of enclosed spaces, can survive on certain surfaces such as glass and mobile phone screens for up to 28 days.”
Based on the results of this research, the prolonged lifespan of this virus on glass is one of the most important discoveries by these Australian researchers.
According to these researchers, ATMs, digital payment devices in stores, and check-in kiosks at airports are among the items that could be effective in the spread of coronavirus.
In other words, these devices are used daily by many people, without their being cleaned regularly in any systematic way.
The results of this research, conducted by Australian researchers at the scientific organization “CSIRO”, were published in the journal “Journal of Virology” (a specialized virology publication).
The Role of Light and Sunlight
Beyond appropriate temperature, light is also among the factors that can affect the lifespan of coronavirus. For example, researchers conducted their research on the lifespan of this virus in darkness.
According to them, exposure to sunlight can cause rapid destruction of this virus. Previous research had mentioned that coronavirus could survive on plastic objects and steel surfaces for up to three days.
The 28-day survival capacity of coronavirus is discussed under certain conditions, while similar research on the lifespan of influenza virus indicated that this virus could survive for 17 days. Therefore, researchers have discovered the “hardiness” of coronavirus compared to other viruses.
This is while, based on research by the German Risk Assessment Institute, no cases of coronavirus infection through contact with contaminated objects have been reported. Even last week, Klaus Reinhardt, head of the German Medical Association, described continuous cleaning of surfaces to combat the spread of coronavirus as futile and ineffective.
