How long can coronavirus survive on surfaces?

Coronavirus which has affected more than 5 lakh people and killed more than 24 thousand across the world till March 27 is spreading fast. The novel virus can spread through infected surfaces and can live between 3 to 72 hours hours on different surfaces such as plastic, metals, cardboard and even air.

As per a study published in New England Journal of Medicine, coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) can be detected in air upto three hours. A person is more likely to catch the infection from air through an infected person rather than the surfaces that have the virus.

On copper, coronavirus can survive for upto 4 hours. As per the study, no traces of the virus could be seen or measured post the four-hour time-frame. Disinfecting the copper surface from time to time is a precautionary measure that can be used.

Coronavirus can live for a day on cardboard surfaces. As per the study, the virus (SARS-CoV-2) can survive for upto 24 hours on surfaces that are made out of cardboard. However the study also said that replicate data were noticeably "noisier" for cardboard than for other surfaces.

On objects and surfaces made of stainless steel, coronavirus can survive for upto 48 hours. The estimated median half-life of the virus was approximately 5.6 hours on stainless steel. The study published in New England Journal of Medicine notes that no visible virus (SARS-Cov-2) was measured after the 48-hour time period.

Coronavirus can live for upto 3 days on plastic surfaces. The SARS-COV-2 virus was more stable on plastic as compared to other surfaces such as metals and cardboard. The estimated median half-life of the virus was approximately 6.8 hours on plastic surfaces.