New research shows that the highly contagious novel coronavirus can remain infectious in the air for hours. According to Reuters, researchers found that viral droplets can also live on surfaces and infect people for up to 3 days. They found that when the virus is carried by droplets released by a cough or sneeze, it remains active in the air for at least 3 hours. Droplets on plastic and stainless steel remain viable and could be detected after three days. On cardboard, the virus was no longer active after 24 hours. When researchers tested copper, it took 4 hours for the virus to become inactivated.
