Where the world is still busy in figuring out on how to control the widespread of Covid-19 and struggling to control it even after imposing lockdown in the respective countries ,a new study on the life span of virus has found that novel coronavirus can stay on the outer surface of face masks for as long as a week.
The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and published in the medical journal The Lancet, examined how long the virus can remain on commonly-touched objects like that of currency, tissue papers and clothes at room temperature.
The study revealed that the virus stays for less than three hours on tissue papers and printing papers. And on cloth (like a cotton lab jacket) and treated wood, the virus disappears by the second day. While it can remain on bank notes and glass for 2-4 days, on stainless steel and plastic, the virus persists for 4-7 days.
Researchers found that coronavirus can stay on the outer layer of a surgical face mask even after seven days.
Malik Peiris, a clinical and public health virologist, told the South China Morning Post, “This is exactly why it is very important if you are wearing a surgical mask you don’t touch the outside of the mask, because you can contaminate your hands and if you touch your eyes you could be transferring the virus to your eyes.”
The study also showed that with time, the effect/concentration of the virus on the various surfaces which was used to study declined rapidly and the use of household disinfectants such as bleach killed the virus almost instantly.
