Covid virus ‘survives for 28 days’ in lab conditions | Hacker News Reader

Covid virus ‘survives for 28 days’ in lab conditions

bbc.com

18 pointsamai26 comments

For reference, the CDC says "Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that handling food or consuming food is associated with COVID-19." [1]

Similarly, the FDA has said "To date, there has not been any evidence that food, food packaging or food handling is a source or important transmission route for SARS-CoV-2 resulting in COVID-19." [2]

I take this to mean that just because a virus survives on some surface around you, that doesn't mean you're likely to get infected from it. If someone's heard of a single known case of a person having gotten COVID-19 from ordinary contact with a common surface, I (and I'm sure everyone else) would be very interested in hearing about it.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/...

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/07/health/food-unlikely-covid-19...

This is correct. I think these kind of studies are not particularly helpful - what is relevant is transmission probability under realistic conditions.

Good thing most of us do not live in a lab.

Or lick our phones.

I bought one bag of chips in 2020, versus 100 bags last year. It's because I check my phone while I'm in the house.

Or in lightless caves

Obligatory xkcd: https://xkcd.com/669/

Exactly. "In lab conditions". No light, fixed temperature and humidity.

That being said, do clean your phones.

Perhaps a silly question, but how do you prefer to clean your phone? I was thinking that a nice UV light station would be the lowest effort cleaning solution, and less irritating than rubbing it with an alcohol sheet everytime I get home.

I keep a bottle of 70% IPA on hand at all times. Whenever I go from a red zone to a green zone, I squirt a nice big splash all over my hands. For a normal candybar smartphone, it shouldn't be too much trouble to pick up the phone while doing this and treat it like a third hand.

In my case, I own a Cosmo Communicator which has a qwerty keyboard, which means I have to be a little less liberal with the alcohol, and I usually use a tissue. But it still takes less than 10 seconds. Squirt, wipe, done.

IPA can ruin the surface of some phone screens, it likely won’t damage the screen itself but the layer that protects the screens from fingerprints and other residue can be washed off with alcohol.

That said it would probably still be better than UV as the UV might actually damage the screen especially if it’s an OLED one.

Overall if your phone is IP rated some dish soap and a moist cloth is probably the best option.

FYI, IPA can remove the oleophobic coating from the screen.

I use a regular spray disinfectant (not too much), think window cleaner or bathroom cleaner and a paper towel

But again, it's not too much, just to wet the surface and wipe well

Wash with soap and water anytime you wash your hands.

That is if your phone is IP rated.

Yea, goes without saying -- or if you have a waterproof case.

But if you don't have either of those, you shouldn't be using your phone in a non-sterile environment.

I wonder about the built in cameras - would they be damaged by the close by concentrated UV source or not ?

Cameras have UV and IR filters usually I would be more worried about the screen if it’s an OLED as UV can degrade the organic molecules in the screen. It might also damage the color filters in LCD screens but I doubt any consumer grade UV lamp can easily reach those levels.

In general I wouldn’t trust consumer UV bulbs (especially the generic Chinese ones), it’s not worth the risk you have very little way of verifying the actual frequency range and power of those bulbs so they can range from non effective at all to Chernobyl without you being able to tell.

The potential risk from a “true” UV bulb and a high power at that is much greater than COVID you can easily get eye damage including blindness as well as really bad burns and potentially cancer from a high enough dose of UV.

The ~400nm UV sources used for curing resins and nail polish might be your safest bet but I wouldn’t bet that these would be as effective as using sanitizers or water and soap.

I agree, but with the continued break-outs in meat-packing plants, it does seem like cold, dark, damp-ish conditions suit it pretty well. Doesn't bode well for actual northern hemisphere winter.

Do they actually break out in the meat packing plants? At least for Germany, a large part of the issue is that the employees are often contract workers from Eastern Europe who live in overcrowded hostels etc that the employer pays for. It's common to have four people in a room + shared kitchens and bathrooms.

My point is that they don't have to get it at work when they also spend most of their off-time with the people they spend their shifts with.

There's been several outbreaks at meat packing plants across the UK, and obviously the workers probably socialise even if they're not living in hostels. UK PHE has issued guidance and it's firmly aimed at the employers:

https://gov.wales/guidance-meat-and-food-plants-prevention-a...

Lots of specific pieces about avoiding aerosol generation especially. I'm not sure the living/hiring practices of meat packing plants are so unique that this would explain why they're such a focus.

Who the heck doesn't clean their phone everyday

Me. Am I in the minority? I clean my phone about as many times as I clean my steering wheel - a few times per year.

OK, I feel unsanitary now. I've owned my car for 15 years, and I'm not sure that I've ever cleaned the steering wheel.

Covid = Coronavirus disease

Covid virus = Coronavirus disease virus

Covid vidis = disease triggered by the covid virus

Quo vadis = disease triggered by the quo varus

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