According to a new study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, the novel coronavirus could survive outside the body for up to nine days provided it is in an environment in which it can thrive.
As the study, which was based on the analysis of 22 previous studies of similar coronaviruses including MERS and SARS, concluded, coronaviruses that affect humans have the ability to survive and remain infectious for up to 9 days outside the body.
This means that infected surfaces pose a risk to uninfected human subjects who might come in touch with the virus-infested surface.
As the researchers have explained, however, common disinfectants, as well as high temperatures, contribute to deactivating such viruses much faster.
While it isn’t clear whether the novel coronavirus behaves the same way, experts believe that regular disinfecting of hands and common surfaces is one of the best ways to prevent the virus from spreading.
As CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield added, the new coronavirus also acts differently depending on the type of surface it is exposed to.
“On copper and steel it’s pretty typical, it’s pretty much about two hours. But I will say on other surfaces – cardboard or plastic – it’s longer, and so we are looking at this,” he told the lawmakers.
The news comes shortly after stunning NASA images have revealed how the coronavirus outbreak in China resulted in reduced pollution due to more people staying indoors and major cities being put on lockdown.
In addition to heavily reduced traffic in China, many businesses have temporarily closed down and advised their employees to stay at home.
For a better perspective, NASA shared two images depicting nitrogen dioxide levels [in yellow/brown color] in the air across the country.
The first image represents the NO2 pollution during the period of January 1 to 20, whereas the second image depicts the NO2 levels during the period of February 10 to 25.
As visible on the second image, the nitrogen dioxide air pollution was greatly reduced in just one month after the quarantine was initiated.
On another map, NASA compared the gas levels in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and concluded that the nitrogen dioxide levels during January and February 2020 were much lower than they were in the same months back in 2019.
“This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event,” said Fei Liu, an air quality researcher who works at Goddard Space Flight Center.
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Replaced!