March 31, 2020
COVID-19 particles can survive on cardboard, though not for as long as you think.
After 8 hours, approximately 15% of viral particles will remain on cardboard.
Most viral particles will have decayed at that point.
Scientists measured this by placing a small amount of COVID-19 viruses on cardboard. They then swabbed the surface and estimated the number of viral particles at each pre-defined time point.
% Virus Alive
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
24 hours | |
| % Left | 1.78 |
0h
5h
10h
15h
20h
Hours since inoculation
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The full dataset for coronavirus on cardboard suggests that coronavirus exponentially decays on cardboard. About a third of coronavirus will be gone within 4 hours, and over 80% will be gone after 8 hours.
COVID-19 viruses live nearly twice as long on plastic surfaces, compared to cardboard.
Half of COVID-19 particles on a cardboard box decay every 3.5 hours, which is approximately half as long as the 7 hour half life for plastic.
