Sun light, heat and humidity can create conditions that areless favourable for the spread of coronavirus, a public health official of theTrump administration has said.
The results of a just concluded scientific study conductedby the Science and Technology Directorate of the US Department of HomelandSecurity, announced during a White House news conference on coronavirus, couldbe good news for India in its fight against COVID-19.
“Coronavirus dies at a much more rapid pace whenexposed to sunlight and humidity. The virus dies the quickest in directsunlight. Isopropyl alcohol will kill the virus in 30 seconds,” BillBryan, the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology toldWhite House reporters in the presence of President Donald Trump.
“Our most striking observation to date is the powerfulaffect that solar light appears to have on killing the virus both surfaces andin the air. We have seen in a similar effect with both temperature and humidityas well where increasing the temperature and humidity or both is generally lessfavourable to the virus,” Bryan said.
The deadly coronavirus which has so far killed more than188,000 people globally and infected 2.6 million, “is dying at a much morerapid pace just from exposure to higher temperatures and just from exposure tohumidity,” he said referring to the study.
“We know that summer-like conditions are going tocreate an environment where the transmission can be decreased. And that’s anopportunity for us to get ahead,” Bryan said.
Sunlight, high temperature of more than 95 degreesFahrenheit (or 35 degrees Celsius), and humidity cuts the half-life of thevirus on surfaces from up to 18 hours to a matter of minutes, the study said.
According to the US Weather Channel the maximum temperaturein New Delhi on Friday is expected to be 98 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the virus is exposed to sunlight, in addition totemperatures above 75 degrees with a humidity of about 80 degrees, it can diein minutes, Bryan said.
However, he clarified that he was not suggesting or makingany recommendations on the social mitigation guidelines which includes socialdistancing.
“Mr. President while there are many unknown links inthe COVID-19 transmission chain we believe these trends can support practicaldecision-making to lower the risk associated with the virus,” Bryan toldthe president.
This, he said has a number of some practical applications.
“For example increasing the temperature and humidity ofpotentially contaminated indoor spaces appears to reduce the stability of thevirus and extra care may be warranted for dry environments that do not haveexposure to solar light,” he added.
Bryan said his department is also testing disinfectants,readily available.
“We have tested bleach, we have tested isopropylalcohol on the virus specifically in saliva or respiratory fluids,” hesaid.
“Bleach will kill the virus in five minutes, isopropylalcohol will kill the virus in 30 seconds and that is with no manipulation norubbing, just spring it on and leaving it go. You rub it and it goes away evenfaster.”
“We are also looking at other disinfectantsspecifically looking at the COVID-19 virus in saliva,” he added.
The study, he said has identified some of the weak links inthe chain that the transmission of the virus depends upon.
“We identified that heat and humidity is a weakness inthat chain. We’ve identified that sunlight, solar light, UV rays is a weaknessin the chain,” he said.