October 12, 2020

Andrew Campbell 

According to a new research article, entitled “The effect of temperature on persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on common surfaces”, published on October 7 in Virology Journal, scientists at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's national science agency, revealed their investigation of SARS-CoV-2 virus survivability.

These CSIRO researchers undertook their study at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong which is reportedly in partnership with the Australian Department of Defence. In addition, CSIRO's new research was a joint scientific project in collaboration with the 5 Nation Research and Development (5RD) Council with representatives from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and the USA. The investigation has indicated that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the deadly COVID-19, can persist over 28 days on common surface types such as glass, paper banknotes, stainless steel, and vinyl. The research work's lead researcher Shane Riddell concluded that SARS-CoV-2 tended to survive longer at lower temperatures and persist longer on non-porous or smooth surfaces.

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared SARS-CoV-2 a global pandemic on March 11, as of October 12, there is reported over 37.3 million confirmed infection cases with more than 1.07 million deaths from the COVID-19 disease. Following the astonishing findings of CSIRO researchers who demonstrate SARS-CoV-2 can remain infectious for a much longer time than the public believed possible, Riddell reaffirmed the importance of washing hands and adequate sanitizing to avoid the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

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