Virus that causes COVID-19 survives up to 28 days on surfaces, Australian scientists find

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can live for up to 28 days on surfaces such as mobile phone screens and ATMs — much longer than previously thought — new Australian research has found.

CSIRO scientists tested the SARS-CoV-2 virus to see how long it survived on surfaces such as cotton, paper, stainless steel, glass and vinyl.

Trevor Drew, director of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, said the research team used the same amount of virus that would be found in someone who was infected.

“It’s important to know how long this virus can last so we know how often we need to disinfect things and what sort of risk common surfaces pose,” Professor Drew said.

He said the fact the virus lasted for so long on surfaces such as glass was important, with the results published today in Virology Journal.

Key points:

• The virus survives on most surfaces for about six to seven days before starting to lose potency
• On some surfaces, such as glass and paper banknotes, the virus lasts for longer than a month
• People can be infected if they touch a contaminated surface then touch their face, nose or mouth

“Touchscreen devices such as mobile phones, bank ATMs, supermarket self-serve checkouts and airport check-in kiosks are high-touch surfaces which may not be regularly cleaned and pose a transmission risk,” Professor Drew said.

Previous research revealed the virus that causes COVID-19 could be detected in aerosols for up to three hours and on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for up to three days.

But this new study found the virus hung around intact on most surfaces for about six to seven days before starting to lose its potency.

“What we found was that even after two weeks, there was still plenty of live, infectious virus there which could potentially infect someone,” Professor Drew said.

Dr Eagles said the colder temperatures required in those workplaces could have been a factor which contributed to the clusters.

“There’s a number of factors at play at an abattoir,” she said.

“For example, the close contact, perhaps some difficulties in wearing personal protective equipment, and colder temperatures may have a role to play.”

In hotter temperatures, such as 30C, the virus was much less likely to survive.

When it comes to cash, the virus survived longer on paper banknotes than on plastic ones like Australia’s polymer-based currency.

“It is really important that we clean and sanitise frequently touched areas like public spaces, shops, eftpos machines,” Dr Eagles said.

“If they are cleaned well, cleaning is really effective.”

Image by Luisella Planeta Leoni from Pixabay