/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/madsack/IJVONL7NPFGFLFGPHABI5IOEIA.JPG "High and low temperatures hardly harm corona virus on surfaces")
Bochum. It has been known for a long time that the corona virus can also adhere to surfaces. However, it has not yet been scientifically clarified whether it can be transmitted through smear infections. Laboratory experiments published in the “Journal of Infection” now suggest that Sars-CoV-2 on surfaces could be infectious for a longer period of time, even at higher outside temperatures.
Room temperature is the fastest way to lower infectivity
The German-Swiss research team led by Stephanie Pfänder from the Department of Molecular and Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) carried out his experiments on dry metal plates. It has been shown that dryness can reduce the infectivity of the viruses 100 times within the first hour. In the following hours, the number of infectious particles decreased only minimally, so that infectious virus particles were still detectable on the platelets after 180 hours.
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The researchers also varied the surface temperature: from normal room temperature to four degrees Celsius and up to 30 degrees Celsius. The temperature differences influenced the half-life – the time in which the number of infectious particles decreased by 50 percent:
- at normal room temperature: Half-life is fastest at 9.1 hours
- at four degrees Celsius: Half-life is 12.9 hours
- at 30 degrees Celsius: Half-life is longest at 17.9 hours
How long does the corona virus survive on surfaces?
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The new type of corona virus lasts for different lengths of time on different surfaces. However, there is no real risk of transmission. © Laura Beigel / RND
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Environmental factors such as UV radiation are not taken into account
“Until now, it had been assumed that the temperature contributed to the fact that Sars-Cov-2 did not transmit well in summer,” says Stephanie Pfänder. “At least on surfaces, the stability of the viruses does not seem to be affected by the different temperatures.”
Factors such as viral load, air humidity and solar radiation were not taken into account in the experiments. “Other human and environmental factors could also have an impact on the Sars-CoV-2 surface stability and thus the fluctuations of the seasonal Sars-CoV-2 surface transfer,” the study says.
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