(VOVWORLD) - Japanese scientists say the Omicron variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may survive on plastic and skin significantly longer than earlier versions of the virus.
 (Photo: Reuters) |
The study posted on the The Conversation looks at the survival of the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and variants, including the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron on skin and plastic.
It has been the first study comparing the Omicron and other variants.
Researchers say that later variants can survive as twice as long on skin and plastic. It’s also worth noting that the Omicron variant is able to survive on plastic for 193.5 hours and on skin for 21.1 hours, which is one of the factors increasing its spreading ability.
A laboratory study on human skin shows that using alcohol at a 35 concentration for 15 seconds was equally effective in inactivating the virus. It means that various alcohol-based solutions are still able to readily inactivate different versions of the virus on skin.