Every day, Le Parisien mobilizes to answer your questions around the coronavirus. Today we are examining the questioning of a surfer: "Instead of washing my masks, if I keep them for a while in a bag, are they free of the virus? "
Nothing is less certain, because it depends on the duration of storage in this bag and on this point, the scientific community still lacks data. There are many doubts about the lifespan of the virus on materials. On fabrics, at room temperature, it could last up to two days, underline in a study published in the very serious scientific journal The Lancet, Hong Kong researchers.
They indeed conducted tests on several materials and were able to determine that if, on paper tissues, the SARS-CoV-2 disappears after three hours, it takes two days to no longer detect its trace on a piece of cloth or treated wood surface (it also takes four days for glass and banknotes and seven days for it to no longer be detected on stainless steel or plastic).
Up to seven days on surgical masks
But all this can, in addition, depend on the variety of the material in question and the fabrics that make up the washable masks are numerous. In addition, scientists do not specify how long the virus can remain on the rubber bands used. For the latter, it is therefore frankly recommended to wash them, in order to disinfect them, and at least at 60 ° C and for 30 minutes minimum, as recommended by The French Association for Standardization (Afnor).
"The virus is very stable at 4 ° C, but sensitive to heat", also emphasize the authors of the study, who ensure that when confronted with a temperature of 70 degrees, it becomes inactive after only 5 minutes .
"Surprisingly, a presence of the infectious virus could be detected on a surgical mask after the seventh day of incubation", also note the researchers in this study. If in doubt therefore, immediately throw away your surgical masks after using them.
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