3 ms·

The narrative is that the virus stays alive for up to three days on surfaces. My understanding of viruses like this would make that an extreme outlier. Do we ha

The narrative is that the virus stays alive for up to three days on surfaces. My understanding of viruses like this would make that an extreme outlier. Do we have any conclusive data on the duration of virus viability outside of the host?

maxerickson 7y ago
A "conclusive" report would pretty much have to be in terms of "up to" and account for outliers.
adventured 7y ago
Detectable in aerosols for up to three hours. Up to four hours on copper. Up to 24 hours on cardboard. Up to three days on stainless steel and plastic. The visuals: https://www.nejm.org/na101/home/literatum/publisher/mms/journals/content/nejm/0/nejm.ahead-of-print/nejmc2004973/20200317-01/images/img_xlarge/nejmc2004973_f1.jpeg https://www.nejm.org/na101/home/literatum/publisher/mms/jour... The study (published March 17): https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2004973 https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2004973
- ch4s3 7y ago
  Does detectable mean likely to cause infection or just that if can stills be found in a lab setting?
  - adventured 7y ago
    Detectable means it can still be found in a lab setting. However I'd go ahead and treat that as the infection line as well for safety reasons.
- CivBase 7y ago
  Is there a difference between "detectable" and "infectious"?
  - adventured 7y ago
    Yeah, the gap between the two is measured in luck. More serious answer, I wouldn't tempt any of these figures by trying to cut them short. I've yet to see any research on minimum for infection related to SARS-CoV-2 (such that you can run that against the declines on surfaces like eg plastic, instead of waiting the full 72 hours). The dashed lines in that visual indicate the limits of detection for the surfaces. There is still some virus likely to be remaining beyond these detection limit times, however it wouldn't be believed to pose a risk of infection at those levels. For example some trace amount of the virus is likely to remain on plastic up to 80+ hours. And absolutely none is expected to still be on copper after 20 hours.
    - CivBase 7y ago
      The "better safe than sorry" advice is fine if your goal is to avoid getting the virus at all costs. Many people feel that way right now, but complacency will set in eventually. As a relatively young and healthy individual, I'm already not worried about avoiding the virus for my own wellbeing. If I get it, I will probably show mild symptoms and make a full recovery in a few weeks without needing any medical care. I'm not afraid of getting it, but I do want to take reasonable precautions to avoid spreading it to those at much greater risk. Most of the public, myself included, are not going to build decontamination stations in their houses. Frankly, that's too much effort for too little personal benefit. If we understand how the virus spreads and use that knowledge to encourage more efficient precautions, then we'll ultimately do a lot more good. That's why it's important for us to paint an accurate picture of how effectively it spreads on inanimate objects. If the message is just "better safe than sorry", most people will eventually decide to take their chances.

maxerickson 7y ago

A "conclusive" report would pretty much have to be in terms of "up to" and account for outliers.

adventured 7y ago

Detectable in aerosols for up to three hours. Up to four hours on copper. Up to 24 hours on cardboard. Up to three days on stainless steel and plastic. The visuals: https://www.nejm.org/na101/home/literatum/publisher/mms/journals/content/nejm/0/nejm.ahead-of-print/nejmc2004973/20200317-01/images/img_xlarge/nejmc2004973_f1.jpeg https://www.nejm.org/na101/home/literatum/publisher/mms/jour... The study (published March 17): https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2004973 https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2004973

ch4s3 7y ago
Does detectable mean likely to cause infection or just that if can stills be found in a lab setting?
- adventured 7y ago
  Detectable means it can still be found in a lab setting. However I'd go ahead and treat that as the infection line as well for safety reasons.
CivBase 7y ago
Is there a difference between "detectable" and "infectious"?
- adventured 7y ago
  Yeah, the gap between the two is measured in luck. More serious answer, I wouldn't tempt any of these figures by trying to cut them short. I've yet to see any research on minimum for infection related to SARS-CoV-2 (such that you can run that against the declines on surfaces like eg plastic, instead of waiting the full 72 hours). The dashed lines in that visual indicate the limits of detection for the surfaces. There is still some virus likely to be remaining beyond these detection limit times, however it wouldn't be believed to pose a risk of infection at those levels. For example some trace amount of the virus is likely to remain on plastic up to 80+ hours. And absolutely none is expected to still be on copper after 20 hours.
  - CivBase 7y ago
    The "better safe than sorry" advice is fine if your goal is to avoid getting the virus at all costs. Many people feel that way right now, but complacency will set in eventually. As a relatively young and healthy individual, I'm already not worried about avoiding the virus for my own wellbeing. If I get it, I will probably show mild symptoms and make a full recovery in a few weeks without needing any medical care. I'm not afraid of getting it, but I do want to take reasonable precautions to avoid spreading it to those at much greater risk. Most of the public, myself included, are not going to build decontamination stations in their houses. Frankly, that's too much effort for too little personal benefit. If we understand how the virus spreads and use that knowledge to encourage more efficient precautions, then we'll ultimately do a lot more good. That's why it's important for us to paint an accurate picture of how effectively it spreads on inanimate objects. If the message is just "better safe than sorry", most people will eventually decide to take their chances.