Coronavirus News: Australian Study Confirms That SARS-CoV-2 Virus Can Remain Infectious On Surfaces For Up To 28 Days!
Source: Coronavirus News Oct 12, 2020 3 years, 6 months, 6 days, 11 hours, 48 minutes ago
Coronavirus News: A new study by scientist from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have alarmingly discovered that the SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease can survive for up to 28 days on common surfaces including banknotes, glass surfaces such as that found on mobile phone screens and stainless steel.
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In the study survival rates of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were determined at different temperatures and D-values, Z-values and half-life were calculated. The study team obtained half lives of between 1.7 and 2.7 days at 20 °C, reducing to a few hours when temperature was elevated to 40 °C. With initial viral loads broadly equivalent to the highest titres excreted by infectious patients,
viable virus was isolated for up to 28 days at 20 °C from common surfaces such as glass, stainless steel and both paper and polymer banknotes. Conversely, infectious virus survived less than 24 h at 40 °C on some surfaces.
The study findings were published in the peer-reviewed
Virology Journal.
https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12985-020-01418-7
In previous studies and reports especially in February, it was reported that SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus could only survive on surfaces for sometimes up to 9 days and even then the WHO insisted that the virus could only remain active for a few hours
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-news-new-research-reveals-coronavirus-can-remain-infectious-for-as-long-as-9-days-on-surfaces-
It emerging more day by day that governments and health agencies knew that the SARS-CoV-2 could remain infectious for longer periods on surfaces and even in the air but were trying to either conceal these facts or downplay them.
It must be also noted that in the beginning of the pandemic numerous stupid government agencies, ‘garbage’ fact checkers and American social media platforms considered many reports that the virus could survive on extended periods of time on various surfaces as fake news or misinformation despite supporting studies like from Germany.
https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(20)30046-3/fulltext It would be good if individuals who were affected by the COVID-19 or had lost loved ones to the disease start action class legal suits against such entities.
The new Australian research, undertaken at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong, found the following new findings with regards to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus:
-The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus survived longer at lower temperatures
-The Novel coronavirus tended to survive longer on non-porous or smooth surfaces such as glass, stainless steel and vinyl, compared to porous complex surfaces such as cotton
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-The virus survived longer on paper banknotes than plastic banknotes.
Dr Larry Marshall, CSIRO Chief Executive said surface survivability research builds on the national science agency's other COVID-19 work, including vaccine testing, wastewater testing, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) manufacture and accreditation, and big data dashboards supporting each state.
Dr Marshall told Thailand Medical News, "Establishing how long the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus really remains viable on surfaces enables us to more accurately predict and mitigate its spread, and do a better job of protecting our citizens."
He added, "Together, we hope this suite of solutions from science will break down the barriers between us, and shift focus to dealing with specific virus hotspots so we can get the economy back on track. We can only defeat this virus as Team Australia with the best Australian science, working alongside industry, government, research and the Australian community."
Deputy Director of ACDP, Dr Debbie Eagles who has been working on both understanding the virus and testing a potential vaccine added, "Our study findings show that SARS-CoV-2 can remain infectious on surfaces for long periods of time, reinforcing the need for good practices such as regular handwashing and cleaning surfaces."
She added, "At 20 degrees Celsius, which is about room temperature, we found that the novel coronavirus was extremely robust, surviving for 28 days on smooth surfaces such as glass found on mobile phone screens and plastic banknotes.”
She further added, “For comparisons similar experiments for Influenza A have found that it survived on surfaces for 17 days, which highlights just how resilient SARS-CoV-2 is."
The study involved drying virus in an artificial mucus on different surfaces, at concentrations similar to those reported in samples from infected patients and then re-isolating the virus over a month.
Additionally detailed experiments were carried out at 30 and 40 degrees Celsius, with survival times decreasing as the temperature increased.
The research was also carried out in the dark, to remove the effect of UV light as research has demonstrated direct sunlight can rapidly inactivate the virus.
Dr Eagles added,"While the precise role of surface transmission, the degree of surface contact and the amount of virus required for infection is yet to be determined, establishing how long this virus remains viable on surfaces is critical for developing risk mitigation strategies in high contact areas."
Professor Trevor Drew, Director of ACDP said many viruses remained viable on surfaces outside their host.
He added, “How long they can survive and remain infectious depends on the type of virus, quantity, the surface, environmental conditions and how it's deposited for example touch versus droplets emitted by coughing."
He further added, "Interestingly proteins and fats in body fluids can also significantly increase virus survival times. The research may also help to explain the apparent persistence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 in cool environments with high lipid or protein contamination, such as meat processing facilities and how we might better address that risk."
The Australian agency CSIRO, in partnership with Australian Department of Defence, undertook the studies in collaboration with the 5 Nation Research and Development (5RD) Council, which comprises representatives from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Every participating country is conducting research on different aspects of virus survivability with the results to be shared publicly as they become available.
Thailand Medical News will be covering all updates on these studies.
These study findings demonstrate SARS-CoV-2 can remain infectious for significantly longer time periods than generally considered possible. These results could be used to inform improved risk mitigation procedures to prevent the fomite spread of COVID-19.
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