A doctor spays medical alcohol at a 75 percent concentration on packs of samples from throat swabs at a laboratory department of Shanxi Bethune Hospital in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi Province. Photo:China News Service

As the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic continues to intensify globally, including the US, Spain and Italy, concerns over how long the virus could survive open surfaces are soaring among the public.

A preliminary study published in the medRxiv on March 11 showed the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, can last in aerosols up to three hours and survive on the surfaces of plastic and stainless steel up to two to three days. The research also claims the virus is capable of surviving on copper surfaces for four hours and paper material up to 24 hours. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

How long the COVID-19 virus can survive on the surfaces of various objects “depends on the type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment,” Yang Zhanqiu, a Wuhan-based virologist, told the Global Times Friday. 

The public agrees the COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets, contact transmission, and aerosol transmission, according to Yang, adding that it may persist on surfaces from a few hours to several days.

But the research is still useful in encouraging the public to regularly wash hands in order to prevent the transmission as well as it will spur medical staff to properly handle belongings of COVID-19 patients, noted Yang.

Global Times