Visit our Covid-19 microsite for the latest coronavirus news, analysis and updates A study led by the US National Institutes of Health found that the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 can be viable in air for several hours and on surfaces for days.
The team, which included researchers from CDC, UCLA and Princeton University, revealed that SARS-CoV-2 remained stable in aerosols for up to three hours.
On copper, the virus could be detected for up to four hours, up to 24 hours on cardboard, and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.
The scientists compared the effect of the environment on SARS-CoV-1, which causes SARS, and SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-1 emerged from China and caused more than 8,000 infections in 2002 and