Assessment of the Viability of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus on Various Types of Test Surfaces, as Well as in Drinking and Sea Water

The aim of this study was to determine the dynamics of the residual infectious activity of the SARSCoV-2 virus on various types of surfaces, including banknotes and coins, in samples of drinking dechlorinated water and samples imitating seawater, with a concentration of sodium chloride salts of 0.9 and 3.5 % at a temperature of 24–28 ºC.

Materials and methods. The studies were carried out using the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strain nCoV/Victoria/1/2020, from the collection of the SSC VB “Vector”, the initial titer being (6.0±0.2) lg TCD50/ml. We used a Vero E6 cell culture from the collection of the SSC VB “Vector” in the form of a 2-day monolayer with a confluence of 95–100 %, grown in 96-well culture plates.

Results and conclusions. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is viable in both fresh and sea water, regardless of its salinity, for at least 48 hours, and the degree of preservation of the residual infectious activity of the virus depends on the water temperature: the lower it is, the better the virus is preserved. It was found that at a temperature of 24–28 C, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is able to maintain infectious activity on all types of test surfaces studied for at least 48 hours, while the degree of the residual infectious activity of the virus depends on the type of surface. The virus is best preserved on stainless steel, plastic and glass. It is demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 virus activity is retained on the surface of paper money and coins for longer than 24 hours. The conducted studies have confirmed the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to maintain its infectious activity in the environment under favorable conditions and, accordingly, to pose an epidemiological threat to the population. 

1. Duan S.M., Zhao X.S., Wen R.F., Huang J.J., Pi G.H., Zhang S.X., Han J., Bi S.L., Ruan L., Dong X.P. Stability of SARS coronavirus in human specimens and environment and its sensitivity to heating and UV irradiation. Biomed Environ Sci. 2003; 16(3):246–55.

2. Chan K.H., Peiris J.S., Lam S.Y., Poon L.L., Yuen K.Y., Seto W.H. The effects of temperature and relative humidity on the viability of the SARS coronavirus. Adv. Virol. 2011; 2011:734690. DOI: 10.1155/2011/734690.

3. Kampf G., Todt D., Pfaender S., Steinmann E. Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents. J. Hosp. Infect. 2020; 104(3):246–51. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2020.01.022.

4. Warnes S.L., Little Z.R., Keevil C.W. Human coronavirus 229E remains infectious on common touch surface materials. mBio. 2015; 6(6):e01697-15. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01697-15.

5. Hirose R., Ikegaya H., Naito Y., Watanabe N., Yoshida T., Bandou R., Daidoji T., Itoh Y., Nakaya T. Survival of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus on the human skin: Importance of hand hygiene in COVID-19. Clin. Infect. Dis. 2020; ciaa1517. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1517.

6. van Doremalen N., Bushmaker T., Morris D.H., Holbrook M.G., Gamble A., Williamson B.N., Tamin A., Harcourt J.L., Thornburg N.J., Gerber S.I., Lloyd-Smith J.O., de Wit E., Munster V.J. Aerosol and surface stability of HCoV-19 (SARS-CoV-2) compared to SARS-CoV-1. medRxiv. 2020; 2020.03.09.20033217. DOI: 10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217.

7. Warnes S.L., Little Z.R., Keevil C.W. Human coronavirus 229E remains infectious on common touch surface materials. mBio. 2015; 6(6):e01697-15. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01697-15.

8. Riddell S., Goldie S., Hill A. Eagles D., Drew T.W. The effect of temperature on persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on common surfaces. Virol. J. 2020; 17(1):145. DOI: 10.1186/S12985-020-01418-7.

9. Casanova L.M., Jeon S., Rutala W.A., Weber D.J., Sobsey M.D. Effects of air temperature and relative humidity on coronavirus survival on surfaces. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2010; 76(9):2712–7. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.02291-09.

10. Rabenau H.F., Cinatl J., Morgenstern B., Bauer G., Preiser W., Doerr H.W. Stability and inactivation of SARS coronavirus. Med. Microbiol. Immunol. 2005; 194(1–2):1–6. DOI: 10.1007/s00430-004-0219-0.

11. Vriesekoop F., Russell C., Alvarez-Mayorga B., Aidoo K., Yuan Q., Scannell A., Beumer R.R., Jiang X., Barro N., Otokunefor K., Smith-Arnold C., Heap A., Chen J., Iturriage M.H., Hazeleger W., DeSlandes J., Kinley B., Wilson K., Menz G. Dirty money: an investigation into the hygiene status of some of the world’s currencies as obtained from food outlets. Foodborne Pathog. Dis. 2010; 7(12):1497–502. DOI: 10.1089/fpd.2010.0606.

12. Thomas Y., Vogel G., Wunderli W., Suter P., Witschi M., Koch D., Tapparel C, Kaiser L. Survival of influenza virus on banknotes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2008; 74(10):3002–7. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00076-08.

13. van Doremalen N., Bushmaker T., Munster V.J. Stability of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) under different environmental conditions. Euro Surveill. 2013; 18(38):20590. DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es2013.18.38.20590.

14. Shutler J., Zaraska K., Holding T.M., Machnik M., Uppuluri K., Ashton I., Migdal L., Dahiya R.S. Risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection from contaminated water systems. medRxiv. 2020.06.17.20133504. DOI: 10.1101/2020.06.17.20133504.

15. Serdec.ru: Does coronavirus live in water? (Cited 01 Aug 2020). [Internet]. Available from: https://icvtormet.ru/prochee/zhivet-koronavirus-vode.

16. Zaks L. [Statistical Estimation]. Moscow: Statistics; 1976. 598 p.

17. Ashmarin I.P., Vorob’ev A.A. [Statistical Methods in Microbiological Research]. Leningrad: “Medgiz”; 1962. 180 p.

18. Zolin V.V., Os’kina O.P., Solodky V.V., Gavrilova E.V., Agafonov A.P., Maksyutov R.A. 2020. [Study of the viability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in drinking and sea water]. COVID19PREPRINTS.MICROBE.RU. DOI: 10.21055/preprints-3111723.