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New coronavirus stable for hours on surfaces: SARS-CoV-2 stability similar to original SARS virus:
The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is stable for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists in The New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. The results provide key information about the stability of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 disease, and suggests that people may acquire the virus through the air and after touching contaminated objects. The study information was widely shared during the past two weeks after the researchers placed the contents on a preprint server to quickly share their data with colleagues.
[...] The findings affirm the guidance from public health professionals to use precautions similar to those for influenza and other respiratory viruses to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2:
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
Neeltje van Doremalen, Trenton Bushmaker, Dylan H. Morris, Myndi G. Holbrook, Amandine Gamble, Brandi N. Williamson, Azaibi Tamin, Jennifer L. Harcourt, Natalie J. Thornburg, Susan I. Gerber, James O. Lloyd-Smith, Emmie de Wit, Vincent J. Munster. Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. New England Journal of Medicine, 2020; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2004973
(Score: 5, Insightful) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @10:43AM (13 children)
When I pointed out that viruses can remain infectious on packaging for days people poo-poo'ed the idea. This is not something new - just that we can now say COVID19 is no different in this respect. You can't disinfect cardboard boxes and paper, and with rapid order fulfillment, every package is a potential source of infection, not just from where the order was fulfilled, but every link of the chain to final delivery.
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(Score: 2) by dx3bydt3 on Wednesday March 18 2020, @11:07AM (6 children)
Ozone will do a good job of sterilizing paper, and I've got an ozone generator. Time to build a parcel sterilizer I guess.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @11:21AM (5 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 3, Touché) by EvilSS on Wednesday March 18 2020, @09:21PM (4 children)
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday March 18 2020, @10:37PM (1 child)
I heat my garage on junk mail and Amazon boxes.
(not totally facetious -- about one month's worth of credit card offers and other assorted junk mail, will heat my garage for several hours bringing the temp up from around freezing to the mid 50s or so and making it not torture to work on Christmas projects and such).
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @11:25PM
What sort of after-treatment do you have installed on your junk mail stove? I seem to remember that burning printed paper is a source of a wide variety of pollutants and particulates--but if you have a catalyst installed that might clean things up a good bit?
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday March 19 2020, @03:37PM (1 child)
This COVID-19 thing is really killing our efforts to recycle stuff responsibly. Until it hit, we took boxes back and filled a bunch of wheelie bins with them, and Kruger would send a truck to pick them up every couple of weeks. Same as we have made provisions to recycle the palette wrap (think shrink-wrap that you wrap around a pile of boxes on a palette to keep them all in one place during shipping).
We still recycle everything we can, but the boxes that go out are now the responsibility of the customers to recycle, or not. When we do it, it's pre-sorted and of high quality - no pizza boxes with cheese crusted to the inside lid, etc. China would still be taking our recycling if it was all the same high quality.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Thursday March 19 2020, @04:06PM
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Bot on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:11PM
In fact it's quite a feat for some nasty but localized virus other than ebola not to have spread thanks to the degeneration of society into a spaghetti mess of interdependence we call globalization.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday March 18 2020, @05:53PM (3 children)
I've been spraying everything down that comes into the house with a 10/1 bleach solution. Even cardboard. It soaks in a bit then dries.
I don't know if it works but I do love me a good placebo!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @10:35PM
My grandma got a bunch of random furniture from the street and and cleaned it with bleach and everything. She still got bed bugs and now she won't be doing that anymore.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday March 18 2020, @10:43PM
I've been taking packages around to my back porch, open them up outside, and then my wife stands in the doorway and pulls the stuff out without touching the outside of the box. Then I break down the boxes outside and put them in the little milkcrate-like container for recycle. Then I strip off the nitrile gloves, drop them in the trash bin, and go inside and wash my hands.
I too am hoping the placebo effect saves me.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday March 19 2020, @03:43PM
According to our health minister, 1 part bleach and 9 parts water kills the buggers. Makes sense, because bleach will totally destroy the lipid coating on the virus. It's that coating you want to strip off, which is why soap and water is better than hand sanitizer, but both are "good 'nuff."
One complaint people have with both soap and water and hand sanitizer is they're doing it so often their hands are dry and chapped. Try using a body wash with moisturizer included. Cheaper than hand sanitizer, hasn't been stripped from the store shelves, and easier on the hands, while still having all the goodness of soap.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday March 18 2020, @08:23PM
Who says you can't disinfect cardboard and paper? If its not cardboard and paper you will need to keep, stuff you will eventually just rip open or toss out, of course you can as you would anything else, it's just a hassle to do.