It turns out that stability of the virus inside a surgical mask lasts for seven days and outside a surgical mask for more than seven days.Jakarta (ANTARA) - SARS-CoV 2 causing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can last inside a surgical mask for seven days and its front or outer side for over a week, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Ratih Asmana Ningrum stated.
SARS-CoV-2 has differing stability on each material that the virus resides on, she stated during an online discussion on mask waste treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday.
"It turns out that stability of the virus inside a surgical mask lasts for seven days and outside a surgical mask for more than seven days," she revealed.
Of course, the insides of the mask worn by a COVID-19 patient would carry the coronavirus and the front of the mask worn by unaffected people may contain the virus, Ningrum pointed out.
The LIPI researcher noted that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may live for 12 days on plastic personal protective equipment, 14 days on stainless steel, four days on a rubber glove, six days on a nitrile glove, a day on cotton cloth, and 21 days on an N95 mask.
The coronavirus that sticks to mask and other personnel protective equipment can be exterminated using disinfectant, she stated.
"All types of disinfectant turn out to work, either the simple one or the one already used at the health facility," she remarked.
The virus can also be inactivated by heating the equipment at 70 degrees Celsius for five minutes or soaking it in disinfectant solution for five minutes.
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