According to a recent study published on the official website of Oxford University Press, the novel coronavirus survives nine hours on human skin.
For the study, the researchers evaluated the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus (IAV) on human skin surfaces and the dermal disinfection effectiveness of 80 per cent ethanol against SARS-CoV-2 and IAV.
The researchers found that SARS-CoV-2 and IAV were inactivated more rapidly on skin surfaces than on other surfaces (stainless steel/glass/plastic).
However, the survival time was significantly longer for SARS-CoV-2 than for IAV.
The study also revealed that both SARS-CoV-2 and IAV on human skin were completely inactivated within 15 seconds by ethanol treatment.
The researchers concluded that the nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV. This will further accelerate the pandemic.
Proper hand hygiene is important to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections, researchers recommended.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.