Coronavirus most active at about 4 degrees Celsius, scientists say

The novel coronavirus is most active at temperatures around four degrees above zero Celsius and gets much weaker at high temperatures, Hong Kong University scientists have found, TASS reports.

The virus is very stable at four degrees, but is sensitive to heat, as follows from their report uploaded to the medical research portal medrxiv.org. At four degrees the infection lasts for more than two weeks, while at 70 degrees it dies within five minutes.

According to a table presented in the report, at 22 degrees the coronavirus stays active at least for a week, at 37 degrees, for no more than two days, and at 56 degrees, less than 30 minutes.

Also, the scientists probed into the virus’s viability on various surfaces. They found out that the virus can exist on the outer surface of medical masks for no less than a week (at room temperature and 65% humidity).

On paper the virus lasts less than three hours, on wood and fabrics, no more than two days, on glass, less than four days, and on stainless steel and plastics, no more than a week.