Modeling the Stability of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on Skin, Currency, and Clothing

Abstract

<jats:p>A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in the winter of 2019 in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spread around the world. The extent and efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is far greater than previous coronaviruses that emerged in the 21st Century. Here, we modeled stability of SARS-CoV-2 on skin, paper currency, and clothing to determine if these surfaces may factor in the fomite transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2. Skin, currency, and clothing samples were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 under laboratory conditions and incubated at three different temperatures (4C, 22C, and 37C). Stability was evaluated at 0 hours (h), 4 h, 8 h, 24 h, 72 h, 96 h, 7 days, and 14 days post-exposure. SARS-CoV-2 was shown to be stable on skin through the duration of the experiment at 4C (14 days). Virus remained stable on skin for at least 96 h at 22C and for at least 8h at 37C. There were minimal differences between the tested currency samples. The virus remained stable on the $1 U.S.A. Bank Note for at least 96 h at 4C while viable virus was not detected on the $20 U.S.A. Bank Note samples beyond 72 h. The virus remained stable on both Bank Notes for at least 8 h at 22C and 4 h at 37C. Clothing samples were similar in stability to the currency with the virus being detected for at least 96 h at 4C and at least 4 h at 22C. No viable virus was detected on clothing samples at 37C after initial exposure. This study confirms the inverse relationship between virus stability and temperature. Furthermore, virus stability on skin demonstrates the need for continued hand hygiene practices to minimize fomite transmission both in the general population as well as workplaces where close contact is common.</jats:p>

Microbicidal actives with virucidal efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 and other beta- and alpha-coronaviruses: implications for future emerging coronaviruses and other enveloped viruses

“…The data on the survival of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]41 , like previous data obtained for other coronaviruses [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] , demonstrate that viral persistence (survival) on HITES is dependent upon: 1) the type of surface, 2) the presence and type of organic matrix in which the virus is suspended at the time of deposition and drying upon the surface, and 3) time. The survival data for SARS-CoV-2 dried on surfaces (Table 1) indicate that the virus remains infectious longer on hard non-porous surfaces, such as plastic and stainless steel, than on wood or cardboard.…”

“…Survival of SARS-CoV-2 on inanimate surfaces (prototypic HITES) and animate surfaces (swine skin). Several studies of the survival (persistence of infectivity) of SARS-CoV-2 experimentally dried on prototypic HITES, or added to human secretions/excretions or swine skin have been reported in the recent literature [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] . These studies have evaluated the recovery of infectious SARS-CoV-2 from hard non-porous surfaces (such as steel and glass), from relatively porous surfaces (such as wood and cardboard), or from skin or within bodily secretions/excretions.…”

“…While certain of the studies 14,17,19 examined the impact of temperature or RH on viral persistence, for the most part, the studies evaluated survival at ambient temperature and RH, and we have reported only these data in Table 1. Virucidal e cacy of antiseptic liquid formulations for SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses.…”

“…Temperature and relative humidity likely also play a role in the persistence of coronaviruses on HITES, although the data sets appearing in the literature speci cally for SARS-CoV-2 [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] have primarily evaluated survival under ambient conditions. For survival dependence on temperature, see references 17,19,21,41 .…”

“…As anticipated by the guidance provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1 , the World Health Organization (WHO) 2,3 , and other regional centers for disease prevention and control, the infection prevention and control (IPAC) strategies of most utility in dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID- 19) pandemic appear to be social distancing, the wearing of face masks, and the use of microbicides for hand hygiene and for sanitization of high-touch environmental surfaces (HITES) 4 . The latter include, but are not limited to, the toilet, bathroom and kitchen sinks, food preparation surfaces, door knobs, toys, desk tops, coins and paper currency, cell phones and other small electronic devices, automatic teller machines, and shopping carts, etc.)…”