In connection with the recently announced pandemic of coronavirus infection around the world, we increasingly began to think about means and ways to protect ourselves from this popular "sore". All kinds of medical face masks, antiseptic gels, regular hand washing, and sometimes a complete cessation of visiting public places can be a good prevention of infection. But how long can a coronavirus be dangerous to a person outside his body? In other words, grabbing the handrail in public transport a day after a similar action by a person infected with a virus, are we able to get infected too?
How long does coronavirus remain dangerous on objects?
After the coronavirus infection spread to a global scale, provoking the appearance of mild panic even in people with a healthy nervous system, more and more requests began to appear on the network about ways to prevent a dangerous disease. In addition, one of the most exciting questions about the new subtype of the virus is its survival outside the body, such as on surfaces, clothing, seats, coins, etc. Since scientists for a long time found it difficult to unequivocally answer this question, they conducted a new study, during which the ability of the virus to survive on various surfaces.
According to an article published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, studies have shown:
The coronavirus remains contagious and dangerous:
- In the air up to 3 hours
- On a copper surface up to 4 hours
- On clothes up to 12 o'clock
- On cardboard up to 24 hours
- On plastic and stainless steel - 2 to 3 days
Judging by the data obtained, it can be assumed that using the same handle on the door together with a person who has become ill with coronavirus, we run the risk of joining the ranks of people infected with the infection. Be that as it may, experts note that despite the ability of coronaviruses to survive outside the human body, they can easily be destroyed with household disinfectants.
You will most likely not be able to get infected from a parcel from China, unless, of course, a courier service such as DHL brought it to you in 1-2 days. Most parcels take much longer to reach their recipients than the coronavirus lives. But if cosmetics or other liquid was infected with a virus and after that it was hermetically sealed, then in theory a package with such a liquid can be infectious for up to 4 days.
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It is a good idea to wear protective gloves and not touch various surfaces in public places with your bare hands, and not lean your clothes against possible carriers of the virus. But the most important thing is to wash your hands, do not touch your face and eyes with dirty hands, leave your shoes outside the apartment and wash clothes at high temperatures.
Experts strongly recommend using medical masks and washing your hands more often, as well as avoiding large crowds.
Is the coronavirus as dangerous as everyone says about it?
Hoping to find similarities with previous subtypes of coronaviruses, which previously also caused massive human infections, experts continue to study the general characteristics of the COVID-2019 viruses and the SARS and MERS viruses that caused the SARS epidemic in 2003. Of course, the outbreaks of these epidemics did not have the scale and popularity that humanity faced at the end of the second decade of the 21st century. Thanks to the already studied subtypes of coronaviruses, scientists have many assumptions and ideas for their destruction. It is already known that previous coronaviruses did not survive at temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius.
Nevertheless, both for us and for scientists, the very mechanism of infection through touching a person or various contaminated surfaces that we encounter daily when visiting shops, airports and public transport remains a mystery. It can be assumed that with dirty hands a person can rub his eyes or scratch his nose, inadvertently bringing the virus onto the mucous membranes, however, according to scientists, such a way to get an infection is not the main way of transmitting a dangerous virus.
Close contact is considered to be the main and main way of transmission of coronavirus infection from person to person, since when coughing, sneezing, and even during a not very emotional conversation, small particles of saliva can get on the nearest person. It is in order to prevent the spread of infection in everyday life that the World Health Organization recommends the use of medical masks that can, if not stop the infection completely, then at least partially prevent its further spread.
Daria Eletskaya