Coronavirus can live on mobile phone for 9 days – Expert

An Infectious Diseases and Immunology specialist has revealed that COVID-19 can also live on mobile phones, aside the human hands, fruits and vegetables.

Professor Nigel McMillan, from Griffith University, specialises in infectious diseases and the risk of transmission, as well as how the coronavirus compares to other diseases.

He told Daily Mail FEMAIL that while the virus can live on myriad surfaces, you need to be especially careful with your smartphone – which, on average, we touch 2,617 times daily.

Studies have found that coronavirus can survive on the kinds of smooth glass and plastic found in smartphones for up to nine days depending on the conditions.

“COVID-19 can live on any surface and the more moist it is, the longer it will live there,” Professor McMillan explained.

“The safest thing to do is consider your phone an extension of your hand, so remember you are transferring whatever is on your hand to the phone.”

“With this in mind, every time you put your smartphone down somewhere or do something and then touch your phone, you should be cleaning it.

“Don’t put it down in random places if you can avoid it,” Professor McMillan said.

“Clean it every time someone else touches it, too, as the virus could be living on it far longer than you think.”