Omicron was found to survive on skin and plastic longer than previous COVID-19 variants.
A study conducted by scientists in Japan found that the Omicron variant has high “environmental stability.”
COVID-19: Finger Lakes health department leaders give update on isolation, quarantine guidelines
What is “environmental stability”?
Environmental stability refers to how long the virus can live beyond people breathing near/ on each other. Additional information can be found here.
Omicron’s ability to survive on surfaces for an extended period is likely why it surpassed Delta as the dominant variant.
How long does it last?
It has been found that Omicron can survive for 193.5 hours on plastic surfaces.
To compare, alpha lasted 56 hours, while beta lasted for 191.3 hours. The gamma variant lasted on plastic for 59.3 hours and the delta variant survived for 114 hours.
Omicron also hangs around on your skin for awhile. Omicron can survive for 21.1 hours and alpha variant survived for 19.6 hours. Prior to Omicron, it was the highest of all other COVID-19 variants.
Is ‘super immunity’ against COVID-19 real?
What can I do?
Researchers suggest that you use infection control practices, hygiene, and disinfectants. More infection control practices come primarily from the World Health Organization.
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