Research
[The Lancet Microbe] Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in different environmental conditions
The Lancet Microbe, 2 Apr 2020
Alex W H Chin, Julie T S Chu, Mahen R A Perera, Kenrie P Y Hui, Hui-Ling Yen, Michael C W Chan, Malik Peiris, Leo L M Poon
Highlights:
- The virus is highly stable at 4°C, but sensitive to heat.
- No infectious virus could be recovered from printing and tissue papers after a 3-hour incubation, whereas no infectious virus could be detected from treated wood and cloth on day 2.
- SARS-CoV-2 was more stable on smooth surfaces. No infectious virus could be detected from treated smooth surfaces on day 4 (glass and banknote) or day 7 (stainless steel and plastic).
- A detectable level of infectious virus could still be present on the outer layer of a surgical mask on day 7.
- No infectious virus could be detected after a 5-min incubation with hand soap at room temperature.
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SARS-CoV-2 can be highly stable in a favourable environment,but it is also susceptible to standard disinfection methods.
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