PhoneSoap sanitizer sales explode, how long does coronavirus stay on phone surfaces?
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A few days ago, we primed you on how to properly disinfect your phone, and Apple, Samsung, Google and other brands also tipped how to sanitize your phone and case surface using Clorox wipes and other methods to fight the eventual sticky coronavirus.
Given that we scroll more than a 600 feet distance each day on our screens, and the fact that phones are basically an extension of our palms, those disinfecting tips are certainly coming in handy, especially in areas where that nasty cold called COVID-19 is present.
One of our suggestions was that wonderful Shark Tank success story - the PhoneSoap UV bath that can kill bacteria and viruses while charging your handset. Now in its PhoneSoap 3 reincarnation already, the gadget has seen copious use in the office in the last few weeks, and the CEO reported that sales have doubled already.
How long does coronavirus stay on the surface of your phone display or case?
Now, to the most pressing question, does my phone's surface present a coronavirus threat? The answer is not on its own, as germs are always languishing there for your immune system to take care of.
It, however, depends on whether you have contact with people that carry the COVID-19 strain and common surfaces they may have touched with unwashed hands or sneezed on. You can then pick up the germ unwittingly, and smear it all over your handset with usage.
How long it stays there depends on the case material, too, as per the new "Aerosol and surface stability of HCoV-19 (SARS-CoV-2) compared to SARS-CoV-1" research preprint (PDF) posted in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Here's how long can the coronavirus last on your phone display surface, frame, or stay on your case (at 68 degrees):
- 2-3 days on glass, metal and ceramics
- Up to 5 days on plastics
- Up to 4 days on wood
- Less than 8 hours on latex
- 2-8 hours on aluminum
- 13 hours on steel is the median half-life estimate for HCoV-19
- 16 hours on polypropylene
As you can see, detectable traces of the HCoV-19 coronavirus strain can stay on phone's surfaces for days, so word to the wise - clean, sanitize, disinfect your handset as often as you can if you have contact with coronavirus carriers or areas where it is present.
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