New Delhi: Solar light kills the coronavirus on surfaces and in the air, claimed an US official on Thursday.
Bill Bryan, chief of the science and technology directorate at the US Department of Homeland Security, said that when studying the biology of the virus they’ve found some striking observations.
The most striking observation is that solar light kills the virus on surfaces and in the air. The virus is dying more rapidly with heat and humidity, and is dying the quickest under direct sunlight, Bryan said.
“Our most striking observation to date is the powerful effect that solar light appears to have on killing the virus, both on surfaces and in the air. We’ve seen a similar effect with both temperature and humidity as well. Increasing the temperature and humidity or both is generally less favourable to the virus,” he said.
In a room at 70-75F temperature with 20 per cent humidity, the half life of the virus is about an hour, he said.
Bryan further said that a good best practice is to increased temperature and humidity on surfaces to suppress the virus.