It's been 10 months since the first case of COVID-19 came to light. Despite all strides made by humankind to battle the virus, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. It is common knowledge by now that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, can be transmitted through a number of mechanisms.
COVID-19 mainly spreads from person to person. When someone who is infected coughs or sneezes, they send droplets containing the virus into the air. A healthy person can then breathe in those droplets. However, one may also catch the virus if you touch a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touch your mouth, nose, or eyes.
The coronavirus can live for hours to days on surfaces like countertops and doorknobs. How long it survives depends on the material the surface is made from.
Recent research evaluated the survival of the COVID-19 virus on different surfaces and reported that the virus can remain viable for up to 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel, up to four hours on copper, and up to 24 hours on cardboard.
On ceramics and metals such as jewellery and silverware, the virus can survive for as long as 5 days and on wooden surfaces, it can survive for 4 days.
However, coronavirus doesn't seem to spread through food or drinking water.
However, these researches have been conducted under laboratory conditions (controlled relative humidity and temperature) and should be interpreted with caution in the real-life environment.
The best way to avoid surface transmission is to clean and disinfect all surfaces, especially high-touch ones, regularly.
