TOKYO: The coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours, Japanese researchers have found it. The discovery asserts the need for frequent hand washing to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pathogen that causes the flu survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours, by comparison, said the study published this month in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal.
“The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes Covid-19) on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic,”
the study discovered
The research team tested skin collected from autopsy specimens, about one day after death.
Both the coronavirus and the flu virus are inactivated within 15 seconds by applying ethanol, which is used in hand sanitizers.
“The longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 on the skin increases contact-transmission risk; however, hand hygiene can reduce this risk,”
the research said
Reported by: The Truth International
