The New Coronavirus Can Live On Surfaces For 2-3 Days新型冠状病毒可以在物体表面存活2-3天How long can the new coronavirus live on a surface, like say, a door handle, after someone infected touches it with dirty fingers?

Astudyout this week finds that the virus can survive on hard surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours and on cardboard for up to 24 hours.

新型冠状病毒在被感染者用脏手指接触门把手等物体表面后，还能存活多久?

本周的一项研究发现，这种病毒可以在塑料和不锈钢等硬面上存活72小时，在硬纸板上存活24小时。

"This virus has the capability for remaining viable for days," says study author,James Lloyd-Smith, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who researches how pathogens emerge.

这种病毒有能力存活数天，”该研究的作者、加州大学洛杉矶分校生态学和进化生物学助理教授詹姆斯·劳埃德-史密斯说。

他专门研究病原体是如何出现的。

Although the World Health Organization had previouslyestimated the survival timeon surfaces to be a "few hours to a few days" based on research on other coronaviruses, this is the first study by scientists at a federal laboratory to test the actual virus causing the current pandemic, SARS-CoV-2.

虽然世界卫生组织此前根据对其他冠状病毒的研究，估计其表面存活时间为几小时到几天”，但这是联邦实验室的科学家首次对导致当前大流行的实际病毒SARS-CoV-2进行研究。

The studyis out in preprint formand expected to be published.

这项研究以预印本的形式发表，预计将出版。

Interestingly, some surfaces are less hospitable to SARS-CoV-2.

For instance, the virus remained viable on copper for only about four hours.

有趣的是，有些表面对SARS-CoV-2不那么友好。

例如，这种病毒在铜上的存活时间只有4小时左右。

It's useful to know how long it can stay alive of course, because the virus can contaminate surfaces when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

Virus-laden respiratory droplets can land on doorknobs, elevator buttons, handrails or countertops — and spread the virus to anyone who then touches these surfaces.

当然，知道它能存活多久是很有用的，因为当感染者打喷嚏或咳嗽时，病毒会污染表面。

携带病毒的飞沫会落在门把手、电梯按钮、扶手或工作台上，并将病毒传播给任何接触这些表面的人。

To test the survival time of the virus, scientists at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, part of the National Institutes of Health, conducted a series of experiments comparing the novel coronavirus with the SARS virus (a similar coronavirus that led to an outbreak back in 2003).

为了测试病毒的存活时间，美国国家卫生研究院下属的蒙大拿州落基山实验室的科学家们进行了一系列实验，将这种新型冠状病毒与SARS病毒(2003年导致疫情爆发的类似冠状病毒)进行了比较。

In the lab, "they'd pick up the virus from the surfaces that had been contaminated and then put [the virus] into cell cultures," he explains.

Then the researchers documented whether the virus could infect those cells in the dish.

They did this multiple times, for both the viruses, at various time points.

在实验室里，他们从被污染的表面提取病毒，然后把病毒放入细胞培养中，”他解释说。

然后研究人员记录了病毒是否会感染培养皿中的细胞。

他们在不同的时间点对这两种病毒做了多次这样的实验。

"Big picture, the [two viruses] look very similar to each other in terms of their stability in these environments," Lloyd-Smith says.

总的来说，(两种病毒)在这些环境中的稳定性看起来非常相似，”劳埃德·史密斯说。

Lloyd-Smith says these findings establish a good ballpark estimate for the survivability of the virus on these surfaces.

"In a laboratory experiment, the conditions are pretty carefully controlled and constant," he says.

By comparison, "in the real world, conditions fluctuate" — conditions like temperature, humidity and light.

So the survivability may vary, too.

劳埃德·史密斯说，这些发现为病毒在这些表面的生存能力建立了一个大致的估计。

他说:在实验室的实验中，条件得到了很好的控制，而且是恒定的。

”相比之下，在现实世界中，情况是波动的”，比如温度、湿度和光线。

所以生存能力也可能不同。

For instance, if the virus contaminates a sunny windowsill or countertop, it may not last as long.

例如，如果病毒污染了阳光充足的窗台或台面，它可能不会持续那么久。

【新型冠状病毒可以在物体表面存活2-3天查看网站：[db:时间]】