Japanese scientists have found that the omicron strain of COVID-19 can survive much longer on skin and plastic than earlier variants of the virus . The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, and it is this persistence of the South African variant that explains why it has spread so quickly around the world, according to preliminary data.
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The SARS-CoV-2 virus can survive on surfaces for varying amounts of time depending on the strain. So the original version of the coronavirus remains on plastic for 56 hours, alpha for 191.3 hours, beta for 156.6 hours, gamma for 59.3, and delta for 114 hours. For the omicron, this time was a record 193.5 hours.
Coronavirus lives much less on the skin. Samples of the original version are 8.6 hours, alpha and beta are just over 19, gamma is 11 hours, and delta is 16.8. Omicron was in the lead here too, having lived on the skin for 21.1 hours.
The good news is that while all new strains are more resistant to ethanol than the original SARS-CoV-2, it only takes 15 seconds of exposure to an alcohol-based disinfectant to inactivate the virus. Therefore, the researchers remind about the importance of observing the basic rules of hygiene.
Omicron not only survives better on surfaces. Scientists consider it more contagious than other strains. So its ability to spread and multiply was 70 times higher than that of the delta.
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It is generally believed that Omicron is less dangerous to humans than other strains. Patients are 40% less likely to need hospitalization and 20% less likely to seek medical help.
“Omicron is accompanied by a strong cough, body aches, headache and runny nose. People who have previously had covid or who have been vaccinated already have immunity, so they tolerate the disease more easily. In people who have not been vaccinated or have not been ill with covid before, the disease can be severe, up to hospitalization,” Vladimir Sibirsky, head of the outpatient department at the European Medical Center, told MedPortal.
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