WEBVTT - How Long Can COVID-19 Last on Different Surfaces?

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, March thirteen. I'm Oscar Mirrors from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus update. New researchers showing how long COVID nineteen can

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<v Speaker 1>survive in a variety of surfaces. While it is still

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<v Speaker 1>not known if you can contract the virus from touching

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<v Speaker 1>certain surfaces, it is believed that it is mostly contracted

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<v Speaker 1>from person to person transmission, but it still can live

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<v Speaker 1>in the air for about three hours and on some

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<v Speaker 1>surfaces for up to three days. My producer, Victor Right

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<v Speaker 1>joins us for more. Thanks for being here, Victor, thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>As we continue to learn more about the COVID nineteen,

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<v Speaker 1>the coronavirus. What are the big questions about it is

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<v Speaker 1>how the germ that causes all of this moves so

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<v Speaker 1>easily between people. Obviously, we think, you know, if you're

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<v Speaker 1>coughing or sneezing, there's droplets of the virus in there

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<v Speaker 1>and somebody can contract it. That's how it's moving. But

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<v Speaker 1>we don't know too much exactly just yet about how

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<v Speaker 1>it lasts on surfaces. So if it was on a

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<v Speaker 1>surface and you touched that surface, then may you touch

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<v Speaker 1>your mouth. Can you get it that way? So there

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<v Speaker 1>was some new research done from the National Institutes of Health,

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<v Speaker 1>the c D, c U, c l A, and Princeton University,

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<v Speaker 1>and they found out that it acts a lot like stars.

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<v Speaker 1>It can live anywhere from a few hours to a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of days on certain surfaces. As a contrast, if

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<v Speaker 1>you're thinking about things like the flu, like influenza, if

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<v Speaker 1>you touch a surface that has the flu on it,

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<v Speaker 1>you can sweep up millions of viral particles in just

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<v Speaker 1>a few seconds. And then a couple that with studies

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<v Speaker 1>that say people touched their faces twenty times every hour. Boom.

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<v Speaker 1>That's how things spread really quickly. So Victor tell us

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<v Speaker 1>about this research and how long COVID nineteen stays on

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<v Speaker 1>certain surfaces. Let's provide a little bit of context real quick.

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<v Speaker 1>The leading theory is still that COVID nineteen has spread

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<v Speaker 1>through person person contact, and be the researcher I'm about

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<v Speaker 1>to give is in an enclosed specific setting. We don't

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<v Speaker 1>know how much of the virus would need to be

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<v Speaker 1>there in a real world scenario for someone to get infected,

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<v Speaker 1>like touching this board or something. So a couple of things,

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<v Speaker 1>One COVID nineteen lives in the air for about three hours.

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<v Speaker 1>On cardboard, it's about a day or so, and on

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<v Speaker 1>plastic and stainless steel it's up to three days, which

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<v Speaker 1>again context all within an inclosed spot. But if it

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<v Speaker 1>lives in stainless steel and plastic, that's kind of bad

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<v Speaker 1>because it's everywhere. It's in hospitals, Like a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>medical tools are made out of plastic and stainless steel.

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<v Speaker 1>If you go on a bus and you're holding onto

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<v Speaker 1>the pole, that stainless steel. So we need to always remember,

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<v Speaker 1>like take a step back. This was in an enclosed setting,

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<v Speaker 1>but that is a bad thing. But that's why they

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<v Speaker 1>always say make sure you're cleaning all your surfaces and

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<v Speaker 1>constantly washing your hands and all that. The one that

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<v Speaker 1>was interesting is that they said he could last on

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<v Speaker 1>cardboard for about a day also maybe twenty four hours

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<v Speaker 1>or so. That's just kind of crazy thinking because we

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<v Speaker 1>live in this kind of Amazon delivery economy, right, It's

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<v Speaker 1>like packages are delivered, So if somebody's at a distribution

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<v Speaker 1>center and they have COVID nineteen, maybe they can get

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<v Speaker 1>all over the boxes. And if you've got that one

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<v Speaker 1>day shipping, maybe maybe you can grab it. But as

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<v Speaker 1>you mentioned, these aren't all real world settings how they're

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<v Speaker 1>studying this, but they're comparing it to stars in the

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<v Speaker 1>sense that it lives on surfaces just about the same.

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<v Speaker 1>But Stars wasn't really transmitted in that way. As you

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned at the top, It really is that person of

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<v Speaker 1>person transmission that they're really looking at. The good news

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<v Speaker 1>is simply wiping down a surface before touching it reduces

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<v Speaker 1>a million particles down to just one hundred. So, like

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<v Speaker 1>we've been saying throughout this entire thing, very simple things

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<v Speaker 1>like washing your hands, being aware of the area around

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<v Speaker 1>you will drastically reduce the odds of you getting something

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<v Speaker 1>like this. Yeah. Well, we're continuing to learn more and

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<v Speaker 1>more about COVID nineteen, so well obviously keep our ears

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<v Speaker 1>to the ground for it. Thank you, Victor, Thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>This has been your daily coronavirus update. Don't forget that.

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<v Speaker 1>For today's big news stories, you can check me out

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