THE entire world is getting burnt out with this Covid-19 pandemic and it becomes more depressing as it drags with no end in sight. Numerous preventive measures have been taken to battle the pandemic such as wearing a mask, washing hands frequently and practicing social distancing. Beyond that, do you clean your phone screen and other hand-held gadgets frequently?
A new study by Australian researchers reveals that the Covid-19 virus can survive on handphone screen for almost a month. This study was published in a recent issue of Virology Journal. The researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) carried out the experiments in a controlled laboratory environment with different temperatures such as 20 OC, 30 OC, and 40 OC. The virus was dried in an artificial mucus on a range of surfaces at concentrations similar to samples from Covid-19 patients. The results showed that temperature effects the survival of temperature. As the temperature rises the survival of the virus declines.
The study also revealed that the optimum temperature for the virus to remain infectious for 28 days is 20oC. The virus has the ability to survive for a longer time in smooth surfaces such as phone screen and even bank notes.
The study stated: “The persistence of SARS-COV-2 on glass and vinyl (both common screen and screen protector materials) suggests that touchscreen devices may provide a potential source of transmission, and should regularly be disinfected especially in multi-user CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall said “establishing how long the virus really remains viable on surfaces enables us to more accurately predict and mitigate its spread and do a better job of protecting our people”.
The researches highlighted the importance of cleaning and hand washing to combat the virus because once the virus enters the body proteins and fats in body fluids can also raise the survival rate of virus.
