VIDEO. How long does the Covid-19 survive on everyday objects?

• To protect themselves against the coronavirus, the population is called upon to protect against the pandemic on a daily basis.
• Limitation of social interactions and diligent practice of barrier gestures are essential.
• According to a study that has just been published, the virus can survive for several days on certain surfaces.

A threat invisible to the naked eye, but yet very real. As the Covid-19 epidemic continues to progress in France, with a significant increase in the number of new infections, the message continues to be hammered. To fight effectively, it is necessary to apply barrier gestures: conscientiously wash your hands, cough and sneeze at your elbow, use disposable tissues. And wash your hands again after all this.

Individually, everyone must comply with these health security and social distancing rules to keep the coronavirus at bay. Now that bars, restaurants, cinemas, museums and non-food shops are closed throughout France, everyone is invited to limit their trips and outings to the bare minimum, to go to work and do their shopping. But is there a risk if you touch an object or a surface that has been in contact with the coronavirus? How long does the Covid-19 survive on everyday objects, whether it is the food that everyone runs to buy at the supermarket, the doorknobs or even the toilet bowl?

Up to three days of Covid-19 survival on plastic and steel

If several studies have tackled this question, a study by American health authorities - the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - allows us to learn a little more about the survival time of the coronavirus on inert surfaces. The virologists who conducted these tests sprayed samples of Sars-CoV-2 on various types of inert surfaces and were thus able to establish that this new coronavirus could survive for up to three days on plastic and on steel, and up to 24 hours on cardboard and paper materials. Enough to get an idea of ​​survival of the Covid-19 if eventually it was in contact with the packages of pasta, toilet paper and other cans which the French are stockpiling in recent days. But also at home, on door handles, worktops, taps, etc. "These surfaces are the" fomites ": all objects potentially carrying germs and which can pose hygiene problems in the management of the coronavirus", explains to 20 Minutes Jocelyn Raude, teacher-researcher in social psychology of health and infectious diseases at the Graduate School of Public Health (EHESP).

The virus would survive less time on other surfaces: no more than four hours on copper, the majority metal in the composition of our coins. And about three hours maximum on aerosols. Similar results with those obtained on samples of Sars-CoV-1, the coronavirus at the origin of the SARS epidemic, which affected Asia, then the rest of the world, in 2003.

Presence of virus does not mean contamination by objects

These data, which have yet to be the subject of additional work, could suggest that the transmission of the virus by air and by objects is "plausible". However, the survival of the virus on certain surfaces does not necessarily mean that the risks of being infected by touching them have been proven.

Thus, the particles of the virus can be present without representing a strong infectious risk, since, as Dr Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the prestigious Columbia University in New York recalls, "if the viruses can remain present on certain surfaces for several days, the number of infectious viral particles is drastically reduced, up to 1,000 times, ”she said on Twitter.

Furthermore, both viruses also showed a 3-log decrease in infectious virus on stainless steel and plastic surfaces after 48-72 hours. This suggests that, while viruses can stay on some surfaces for days, their infectious titer is greatly reduced (1000-fold).

Disinfect, disinfect and disinfect

The American virologist, however, recalls the importance of barrier gestures and recommends "regularly disinfecting door handles, counters, washing your hands frequently, not touching your face and practicing social distancing".

This information is useful to the public, in that it can help us take precautions to avoid exposure / transmission. Wipe down / disinfect shared surfaces (doorknobs, counters, etc). Wash your hands frequently and don't touch your face. Social distancing practice.

Dr Rasmussen reassures those who are worried about receiving contaminated boxes since the coronavirus does not survive there for more than 24 hours, but calls on the deliverers to take additional hygiene precautions. Because respecting barrier gestures remains the key against the spread of the coronavirus.

For example, a previous study, published March 5 in the American scientific journal JAMA , showed that patients with Covid-19 were widely contaminating their bedroom and bathroom, emphasizing the need to regularly clean surfaces such as sinks and washbasins. bowls. For their work, the researchers examined the rooms of three patients kept in isolation. One of the rooms was tested before its routine cleaning, while the other two were analyzed after disinfection measures. The patient whose room was tested before cleaning had a simple cough, while the other two showed more severe symptoms with cough, fever, shortness of breath for one and sputum of pulmonary mucus for the other.

Despite his mild symptoms, the first patient contaminated thirteen of the fifteen surfaces analyzed by the researchers, including his chair, bed, window and floor. In his toilets, three of the five surfaces tested, including his sink and bowl, showed traces of the virus, suggesting that stool could be a route of transmission. The study, conducted by researchers at the National Center for Infectious Diseases in Singapore and the DSO National Laboratories, found that the virus does not survive cleaning contaminated surfaces with common disinfectant twice. per day.

Transmission by droplets

But keep in mind that the main mode of transmission of the virus is the droplets projected by an infected person when he talks, coughs or sneezes. Droplets that can reach anyone within a radius of one meter when you are not protecting yourself, hence the importance of staying confined or at least wearing a mask if you are contaminated by Covid-19.

However, many people, children and young adults in particular, can be asymptomatic carriers of the virus. And therefore not knowing that they are sick, and thus spreading the virus around them. This explains the containment measures and the closings of schools and universities announced this weekend by the Head of State.

To date, France has recorded 5,423 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 127 deaths.

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