COVID-19 & Surfaces, March 20

A new study published Tuesday, March 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the COVID-19 virus can survive for up to three-days on some surfaces, such as plastic or steel. The report also says the virus disintegrates over the course of a day on cardboard. Airborne droplets of the virus, smaller than 5 micrometers, can stay suspended for about a half-hour before drifting down and settling on surfaces. The aerosol finding is inconsistent with the World Health Organization’s position that the virus is not transported by air. While the virus can survive up to 72-hours on plastic or steel, it does poorly on copper (four hours) or cardboard (up to 24-hours).