'Wash Your Hands Regularly As Coronavirus Remains Active On Skin For 9 Hours': Japanese Researchers

The study backs WHO's recommendation to wash hands for 20-30 seconds to limit the transmission of Coronavirus. Read On.

Coronavirus Updates: The world has been battling with Covid 19 which has infected nearly 40 million people around the world since it first emerged in China late last year. Some countries have eased the lockdown restrictions accepting the safety precautions as a part of their lives to prevent themselves from the virus while many are still in fear that easing restrictions might result in a second wave of the pandemic taking more lives. Research has suggested that wearing masks and using sanitisers from time to time will help to prevent us from contracting the virus. WHO has also recommended washing hands for 20 seconds should be followed rigorously. Now, according to a recent study by the Japanese researchers, the coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours, which shows the need for frequent hand washing to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The pathogen that causes the flu survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours by comparison, said the study published this month in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal. "The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes Covid-19) on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic," it said. The research team tested skin collected from autopsy specimens, about one day after death. Both the coronavirus and the flu virus are inactivated within 15 seconds by applying ethanol, which is used in hand sanitisers.

 "The longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 on the skin increases contact-transmission risk; however, hand hygiene can reduce this risk," the study said.