COVID particles can survive from 3 hours to 7 days depending on material By awoodward@businessinsider.com Business Insider 8 April 2020
Stay Home, Adhere to Social Distancing, Wash Hands with Soap & Water, Cough Etiquette as a Habit The new coronavirus typically spreads via droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The droplets carry viral particles and can land on someone else's nose or mouth or get inhaled. Live coronavirus particles can survive for anywhere from three hours to seven days on surfaces, depending on the material. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. But people could potentially get the coronavirus if they touch a surface or object that has viral particles on it and then touch their mouth, nose, or eyes. The lifespan of the virus on a given surface depends on myriad factors, including the surrounding temperature, humidity, and type of surface. A study published April 2 in the journal The Lancet Microbe revealed how long the COVID-19 virus lasts on various common surfaces. The authors found that the virus lasted longest — seven days — on the outer layer of surgical masks. How long the coronavirus can survive on surfaces The researchers behind the new study tested the virus' life span in a 71-degree-Fahrenheit room at 65% relative humidity. After three hours, the virus had disappeared from printing and tissue paper. It took two days for it to leave wood and cloth fabric. After four days, it was no longer detectable on glass or paper money. It lasted the longest, seven days, on
stainless steel and plastic. Strikingly, the authors wrote, the coronavirus was still present on the outward-facing side of a surgical mask on day seven of the investigation. That's the longest duration of all the materials they tested. The study followed earlier research that also measured the coronavirus'
lifespan on a range of household surfaces. The prior study, published March 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggested the virus could live up to four hours on copper and up to a day on cardboard. The researchers found that the virus lasted up to three days on plastic and stainless steel — a shorter time than the results in the Lancet study.
NYC subway in February - Getty’s images
Rhode Island kitchenette in March 2 Getty’s
2