Surfaces really prevent the spread of coronavirus

Photos from the areas hardest hit by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 tell a story of disinfection. Trucks spraying streets and a phalanx of sanitation workers wearing backpack tanks fogging sidewalks, parks, and plazas in China, South Korea, Italy, and elsewhere. Countless recommendations admonish us to wash our hands and disinfect often-touched surfaces in our homes. But what is the most effective way to prevent exposure to the virus?

Like other coronaviruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes COVID-19, is thought to spread most commonly through invisible respiratory droplets sent into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Those droplets can then be inhaled by nearby people or land on surfaces that others then touch, who can then get infected when they touch their eyes, nose, or mouth.

The good news from investigations of the coronavirus spread, from an environmental health scientist at Emory University, is that past studies show common household disinfectants, including soap or a diluted bleach solution, can deactivate coronaviruses on indoor surfaces. “Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses with a protective fat layer”. Disinfectants tear apart that fat layer, which makes coronaviruses “fairly wimpy” compared to noroviruses and other common viruses that have a more robust protein shell. The Environmental Protection Agency has a list of disinfectants that have shown to be effective in fighting coronaviruses.