Omicron survives longer on some surfaces, studies find; but it's no reason to panic

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Fri, 2022-03-18 20:16 — mike kraft

Omicron survives longer on some surfaces, studies find, but it's no reason to panic Under experimental conditions, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus survives at least twice as long on surfaces like plastic, paper and skin than the original strain that emerged from Wuhan, China, which may help explain how this variant has become so contagious, two recent studies show. Brenda Goodman, CNN CNN

(CNN) Under experimental conditions, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus survives at least twice as long on surfaces like plastic, paper and skin than the original strain that emerged from Wuhan, China, which may help explain how this variant has become so contagious, two recent studies show.

There's no need to start obsessively wiping and washing, however. Even though Omicron may survive longer on surfaces, you're probably still more likely to be infected by inhaling the virus rather than by touching something that's been contaminated, says Linsey Marr, an environmental engineer and aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech.

think that maybe surfaces could be a little more important than they were with the ancestral strain. I still do not think that does not mean that surfaces are dominant, though," said Marr, who reviewed the studies but was not involved in the research. "I am sure that inhalation of aerosols is still the dominant mode of transmission."

This increased stability probably also helps Omicron survive longer in the air, too.

"If it's more stable in the air, it's going to be more contagious in the air, too," she said. ...

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