The big question at the moment is 'how long will Coronaviruses last on surfaces' and 'what should I do'?
Here at Science for Wellness we let you know. Based on what we know about other Coronaviruses and the latest research the main things you can do are:
- Keep hand sanitiser in your car (if you can get it) for after supermarket visits
- Wash your hands well with soap and hot water when you enter the house and after touching groceries
- Wipe all kitchen bench surfaces with hot soapy water
- Rinse well with hot water
- Follow with a sanitising step such as a weak bleach solution (0.1% sodium hypochlorite in cold water) that stays on the bench for 1 minute
- Wash all fruit and vegetables well with water
- you can add a small amount of bleach to the cold water, but rinse it off really well with more cold water
- Read the label of your bleach and if it contains any chemicals other than sodium hypochlorite, do not use on fruit and vegetables
- If you have immunocompromised people in the household, consider wiping down packets with weak bleach solution (0.1% sodium hypochlorite in cold water)
- If you have alcohol wipes, these can also be used for grocery tins and packets and will be more effective then bleach solution as the alcohol remains on the packet for 1 minute without soaking it.
- Some people are suggesting leaving groceries in the garage for a number of days and I suspect more will come to light about this in the next few days and I'll update when this happens
In terms of how long the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes the disease COVID-19) stays on surfaces, based on other Coronaviruses it could be hours to days. Other Coronaviruses have been shown to persist on inanimate objects such as metal, plastic or glass for up to 9 days (Kampf et al, 2020).
But it's also shown that these are inactivated by 62-71% ethanol or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within a minute. Sodium Hypochlorite is also known as Bleach.
Recent research by Neeltje van Dormalen, from Rocky Mountain Labs, published in the New England Journal of Medicine specific to SARS-CoV-2 has found that droplets can survive for 3 hours in the air. They also found that it can survive 2 to 3 days on stainless steel and plastic surfaces and up to 24 hours on cardboard. The findings also pointed to the virus lasting 2-3 days on door handles and laminated surfaces such as kitchen benches. They found copper tended to kill the virus within 4 hours.
We also know that the Virus has a fatty membrane, which makes it susceptible to surfactants, such as washing up liquid. Surfactants basically open the coronavirus membrane and deactivate the viral material, allowing it to be washed away as the surfactant is rinsed, which is why it's so important to wash your hands well with soap (surfactant) and hot water.
The main thing to remember is to treat everyone like they already have the virus, maintain regular handwashing and ensure benches, door handles and bathrooms are regularly cleaned with hot, soapy water followed by a weak bleach solution in cold water that remains in contact for 1 minute. If you have alcohol wipes, then use these instead, but they are in short supply.
