A study reveals how long the Corona virus remains on the skin

A study conducted by Japanese researchers revealed that the emerging corona virus can remain for nine hours on human skin, in a discovery that highlights the need to wash hands frequently to combat the Covid-19 epidemic.

According to the study, published this month in the Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, the germ that causes influenza can survive on human skin for about 1.8 hours compared to the long duration of the Covid-19 virus.

She stated that "the survival of SARS-Cove-2 for nine hours on human skin may increase the risks of contact transmission compared to influenza virus, which speeds up the pandemic."

The research team tested skin samples collected from autopsy samples about a day after death.

And the activity of both the Corona virus and the influenza virus is deactivated within 15 seconds by using ethanol used in hand sanitizers.

The study said, "If SARS-Cove-2 remains on the skin for a longer period of time, it increases the risk of transmission. However, hand hygiene can reduce this risk."

The study supports the World Health Organization's directives to wash hands regularly and comprehensively to limit the transmission of the virus, which has infected nearly 40 million people and killed more than a million people around the world since it first appeared in China late last year.