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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday March 18 2020, @10:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the good-to-know dept.

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


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday March 18 2020, @05:56PM (7 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday March 18 2020, @05:56PM (#972845) Journal

    The CDC says only 70% and higher alcohol will kill the virus. Hand sanitizers tend to be in the 60s so I'm not even sure they will work.

    Soap and water for you hands. 10/1 bleach solution for everything else.

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @08:20PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @08:20PM (#972901)

    The CDC says only 70% and higher alcohol will kill the virus. Hand sanitizers tend to be in the 60s so I'm not even sure they will work.

    And, in an attempt to gouge as much as they possibly can, your 60% figure is now seriously optimistic...the cheaper ones available before the virus scare were in the 20-30% range, I'd hate to think what they are now. As a family member nearly died of sepsis and pneumonia last year - complications of arthritis medication - we've become, as a family, hand-sanitizer snobs, since her release from hospital we've gone through gallons of the stuff and learned quite early on that similar looking bottles didn't mean similar quality, and that you normally got what you paid for..of course, the gougers and the panic buyers have seriously screwed that last bit up, and their actions screwed up our supply..thankfully, there's a well known disinfectant that consists of 70-75% ethanol that these fuckers haven't sussed exists yet..and it comes in a range of fragrances, some of which most people find 'cloying' or 'irritating' so there's always those bottles left on the shelf of the supermarkets to be had and used as a base for DIY experimentation..my hands currently smell very, very citrusy..

    Soap and water for you hands. 10/1 bleach solution for everything else.

    I know I really shouldn't do it, but after handling seriously soiled/dubious material without gloves (or, with gloves I don't trust) I apply neat household bleach (trans: 3.5% Sodium hypochlorite solution straight from the bottle) to my hands, go through the motions of washing with it, leave it for a couple of minutes, rinse then wash again with soap and water..extreme sounding, maybe, but you've never seen some of the stuff I've had to handle in an emergency...I just wish to hell that there was such a thing as a nose bleach for those occasions as well.

    • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday March 18 2020, @08:27PM (2 children)

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Wednesday March 18 2020, @08:27PM (#972906) Homepage

      " similar looking bottles didn't mean similar quality, and that you normally got what you paid for "

      What does that even mean? You prefer only Calvin Klein or Tommy Hilfiger hand-sanitizer scented with badger castor and musk ox perfume, with decorative gold flakes? Do you have a scanning electron microscope and conduct effectiveness experiments in your home with every batch you bring back?

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @09:32PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @09:32PM (#972922)

        What does that even mean?

        Two bottles, identical graphics, identical primary text and layout, identical brand name, but different ingredients/proportions of ingredients in fine print, two different prices, two different shop chains.

        Do you have a scanning electron microscope and conduct effectiveness experiments in your home with every batch you bring back?

        At home?, no to the electron microscope, though I do know where there is one sitting idle, as the last person who could drive the beastie and it's arcane computer retired a couple of years back they regard it as just so much scrap..so I do live in hope (and yes, I've driven it in the past, as I repaired and upgraded the computer interface electronics on it I got to play with it on and off over a period of three years)..effectiveness experiments@home, well, one simple test is usually enough to start with, can I ignite the gel? if yes then it contains the requisite goodly amount of alcohol so gets used..no flame, no fucking use.

        It also doesn't hurt that I know someone at the local college who is willing to test the efficacy of these sanitizers, gives her minions something to do seeing as they've been short of students for a while..remember, some of us here spent a hell of a lot of time working in Colleges and Universities, we might be out of that game, but we still have contacts.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @10:49PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @10:49PM (#972950)

        You wouldn't use an SEM for that.

    • (Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Friday March 20 2020, @11:50AM

      by Muad'Dave (1413) on Friday March 20 2020, @11:50AM (#973450)

      Honest question here: I just read a bottle of hand sanitizer I have. It says "Active ingredient: ethyl alcohol 70%". Under inactive ingredients, the first is "water".

      Do they mean that the end product is at 70% ABV or that they merely added 'some' 70% ABV alcohol to their product as an active ingredient?

      If it's the latter, there's no way to even guess at the end product ABV because the ingredient list is split - normally the ingredients are listed in descending order of quantity so you could at least tell if there was more water than alcohol.

  • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday March 18 2020, @08:21PM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Wednesday March 18 2020, @08:21PM (#972902) Homepage

    Non-bleach Lysol claims to kill 99.9 of shit and on its label explicitly states that coronavirus is one of which it kills. I've been using it on my surfaces for years, and it smells a hell of a lot better than bleach.

    If I wanted my apartment to smell like semen, I'd move to San Francisco or hire gay prostitutes.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by EvilSS on Wednesday March 18 2020, @09:14PM

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 18 2020, @09:14PM (#972913)

    CDC recommends the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers with greater than 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol as the preferred form of hand hygiene in healthcare settings, based upon greater access to hand sanitizer.

    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/infection-control/hcp-hand-sanitizer.html [cdc.gov]

    Most consumer hand sanitizers use ethanol, so 60% or above is the correct amount.