• Sophie J Smither, Lin S Eastaugh, James S Findlay, and Mark S Lever.
• Chemical Biological and Radiological Division, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), Wiltshire, UK.
• Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020 Dec 1; 9 (1): 1415-1417.

AbstractSARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic, may be transmitted via airborne droplets or contact with surfaces onto which droplets have deposited. In this study, the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to survive in the dark, at two different relative humidity values and within artificial saliva, a clinically relevant matrix, was investigated. SARS-CoV-2 was found to be stable, in the dark, in a dynamic small particle aerosol under the four experimental conditions we tested and viable virus could still be detected after 90 minutes. The decay rate and half-life was determined and decay rates ranged from 0.4 to 2.27 % per minute and the half lives ranged from 30 to 177 minutes for the different conditions. This information can be used for advice and modelling and potential mitigation strategies.

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