- SARS-CoV-2’s median half-life is :
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- 1 – 1.2 hours in aerosol form;
- 6 hours on stainless steel;
- 8 hours on plastic.
- SARS-CoV-2 is more stable on smooth surfaces. It is viable up to 4 days on glass and paper money and up to 7 days on materials such as plastic and stainless steel
- SARS-CoV-2 is undetectable after :
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- 3 hours on printing and tissue papers;
- 4 hours on copper;
- 24 hours on cardboard;
- 48 hours on wood and cloth.
- Traces of SARS-CoV-2 can be detected on the outer layer of a surgical mask after 7 days.
- SARS-CoV-2 is sensitive to heat. For instance, the virus is highly stable at 4°C, but it’s time for virus inactivation reduces at higher temperatures.
The data comes from 2 articles. The first article evaluates the viability of the SARS-CoV-2 and the SARS-CoV-1, the most closely related human coronavirus, in aerosol form, on five different surfaces (plastic, stainless steel, copper, and cardboard). SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 have similar stabilities, which indicates that the differences in their epidemiologic characteristics are due to other factors. The second article investigates the stability of SARS-CoV-2 at different temperatures as well as different surfaces (printing paper, tissue paper, wood, cloth, glass, banknote, stainless steel, plastic) at room temperature (22 °C) at 65% humidity.
Sources :
- Van Doremalen N., Bushmaker T., Morris D., et al (March 17, 2020). Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2004973
- Chin A., Chu J., Perera M., et al (April 2, 2020). Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in different environmental conditions. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30003-3