Washington D.C: According to a senior US Official, solar light seems to have a “powerful effect” on killing coronavirus.
“Our most striking observation to date is the powerful effect that solar light appears to have on killing the virus-both surfaces and in the air,” said William Bryan, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary for Science and Technology at a White House briefing.
“We’ve seen a similar effect with both temperature and humidity as well, where increasing the temperature and humidity or both is generally less favorable to the virus.”
The slides shown during the briefing, indicated that half-life of the virus, which is 18 hours at 70-75 degree Fahrenheit and 20 per cent humidity on a non-porous surface including door handles and stainless steel, decreases to 6 hours when humidity is increased to 80 per cent, reported ANI.
“As the temperature increases, as the humidity increases, with no sun involved, you can see how drastically th half-life goes down on that virus. So the virus is dying at a much more rapid pace, just from exposure to higher temperature and just from exposure to humidity,” said Bryan.
The US official said that life span further decreases to two minutes when sunlight is added to the equation.
“That’s how much of an impact UV rays has on the virus,” he said.
