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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

U.S. aggressively investigating virus threat: health chief

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U.S. aggressively investigating virus threat: health chief
U.S. aggressively investigating virus threat: health chief

U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield spoke to Congress about the coronavirus threat on Thursday (February 27), saying that his agency is aggressively evaluating how long the virus can survive on surfaces.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield told the U.S. Congress on Thursday (February 27) that his agency is aggressively evaluating how long coronavirus can survive and be infectious on surfaces.

"On copper and steel its pretty typical, it's pretty much about 2 hours," Redfield said at a House of Representatives hearing on the government response to the fast-spreading virus.

"But I will say on other surfaces - cardboard or plastic - it's longer, and so we are looking at this." He said infections contracted from surfaces rather than through the air could have contributed to the outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Still, Redfield said he did not think surface transmission would impact cargo shipments.

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