Omicron survives longer on some surfaces, studies find. That may help explain why it's more contagious, but it's no reason to panic
- "I think that maybe surfaces could be a little more important than they were with the ancestral strain. I still do not think that does not mean that surfaces are dominant, though,"
Lab studies of BA.1 (which is less contagious than BA.2)
Surface | Original | Omicron BA.1 |
Plastic | 2 days | 8 days |
Stainless Steel | 2 days | 7 days |
Stealth’ Omicron Is Stealthy No More: What’s Known About the BA.2 Variant New York Times March 18, 2022
- "And in a study in Hong Kong, researchers estimated that during an outbreak of BA.2 in a public housing complex, the virus doubled every 1.28 days."
Note: Surface transmission becomes important when people are not wearing masks
- Maskless infected person who is much more likely to leave a virus on a surface
- Maskless victim touches the surface, then touches their face
Note: Infections not needing hospitalization can still result in long-haul for many months or years