Covid Viruses Survive on Smartphone Screens for 28 Days

A new study by Australian researchers demonstrates that the SARS-Cov-2 virus, which is responsible for COVID-19, can survive on glass, stainless steel and both paper and polymer banknotes for almost a month. Previous studies assumed a maximum of six days.

Many people no longer want to know much about prevention against Covid. That could be a serious mistake. Results published by an Australian research team in the Virology Journal suggest that the SARS-Cov-2 virus, which is responsible for COVID-19, can survive on glass, stainless steel, and both paper and polymer banknotes for almost a month, if they are stored at ambient temperature and humidity (20 ° C and 50 percent humidity).

The researchers conclude that the persistence of SARS-COV-2 on glass and vinyl (both common screen and screen protective materials) suggests that touchscreen devices can be a potential source of transmission and should be disinfected regularly, especially in multi-user environments.

It’s not just about glass surfaces either. Banknotes – both the paper and plastic polymer types used in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia – are also dangerous.

“While other studies have shown that paper banknotes contain more pathogens than polymer banknotes, these data show that SARS-CoV-2 persists on both paper and polymer banknotes for at least 28 days at 20 ° C, albeit with a faster rate of inactivation Polymer banknotes ”, according to the study

An earlier study in the “Lancet” magazine from April 2020 assumed that SARS-CoV-2 could survive for a few days on glass and banknotes and up to six days on glass and stainless steel.

In other words, keep cleaning the equipment you touch and wash your hands regularly. Apple advises that you disinfect your iDevices and Macs. There are UV disinfection tools for smartphones and buttons like the KeySmart CleanTray or Monos CleanPod, and then there are the old, tried and tested soap and water.

For companies, this is a wake-up call to take hardware disinfection seriously. Regularly cleaning high-touch areas like keyboards is a good idea, as is providing cleaning supplies for your employees.