There has been a lot of speculation regarding how long the SARS-CoV-2 virus can stick to different types of surfaces. The intense paranoia regarding this has caused people to take extreme measures. People have been leaving their groceries outside their houses overnight, using Clorox wipes to disinfect the outer surfaces of anything they bring into their houses and washing their fruits and vegetables with soap. This trend started with a video posted by a doctor in Michigan, advising people to take these extreme measures. He also advised people to wash their fruits and vegetables soap water. An article published in the Detroit Metro Times explores this idea.
Going off of that I thought it would be interesting to discuss the aerosol and surface stability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides data on this topic and compares the SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 viruses. They tested five environmental conditions including aerosols, copper, plastic, stainless steel and cardboard. Based on their results, they found that SARS-CoV-2 remained viable in aerosols for the duration of the study that was conducted for 3 hours, with a reduction in the infectious titer. Other results indicated that SARS-CoV-2 was more stable on plastic and stainless steel than it was on copper and cardboard and viable form of the virus could be detected on these surfaces up to 72 hours after application. The median half-life of the virus was around 5.6 hours on stainless steel and 6.8 hours on plastic.
Based on this information, I think there is definitely merit in being cautious with what we are ordering and where it is coming from. But, on the other hand, these measures might be a tad bit extreme and could cause other health problems. While it is important to consider the fact that the virus can persist on the plastic bags or cardboard cartons that the food comes in, leaving out perishable items like milk and frozen foods is a bad idea. Spoilt milk and food can lead to other health related problems which can be very hard to manage at a time like this. Additionally, washing fruits and vegetables with soap and water could lead to nausea, vomiting and diarrhea as soap is not meant to be ingested. An article published on nj.com, considers this and recommends people to rinse their fruits and vegetables with cold water, which is something people should be doing anyways.
- By: Sanya Bansal