Japanese researches have found that the novel coronavirus can survive on human skin for up to nine hours which shows the need for frequent hand washing to combat the pandemic.
The study that was published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases on 3 October compared the survival times of the coronavirus and influenza A (flu) virus (IAV). The IAV remained active on human skin for nearly two hours.
“The 9-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV, thus accelerating the pandemic. Proper hand hygiene is important to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections,” the study said.