People may acquire the coronavirus through
the air and after touching contaminated objects and this is the reason new
cases are soaring globally.
Los
Angeles: The virus that causes COVID-19 remains
for several hours to days on surfaces and in aerosols — detectable for up to
three hours in aerosols, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on
cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel, a new
study has claimed.
People may acquire the
coronavirus through the air and after touching contaminated objects and this is
the reason new cases are soaring globally.
“This virus is quite transmissible through relatively casual contact, making
this pathogen very hard to contain,” said James Lloyd-Smith, co-author and
professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at University of California-Los
Angeles.
“If you’re touching items
that someone else has recently handled, be aware they could be contaminated and
wash your hands,” he said in a paper published in the New England Journal of
Medicine.
The study attempted to mimic
the virus being deposited onto everyday surfaces in a household or hospital
setting by an infected person through coughing or touching objects, for
example.
The scientists then
investigated how long the virus remained infectious on these surfaces.
In February, Lloyd-Smith and
colleagues reported in the journal eLife that screening travellers for COVID-19
is not very effective.
People infected with the
virus — officially named SARS-CoV-2 — may be spreading the virus without
knowing they have it or before symptoms appear.
The biology and epidemiology
of the virus make infection extremely difficult to detect in its early stages
because the majority of cases show no symptoms for five days or longer after
exposure.
“Many people won’t have
developed symptoms yet,” Lloyd-Smith said. “Based on our earlier analysis of
flu pandemic data, many people may not choose to disclose if they do know”.
Avoid close contact with
people who are sick,avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, stay home when
you are sick, cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue, and dispose of the tissue
in the trash.
Clean and disinfect
frequently touched objects and surfaces using a household cleaning spray or
wipe, said researchers.
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