Survival Times for Some of the Most Common HAIs, Viruses, and COVID-19
| Pathogen survival on dry, inanimate surfaces ( 22 ) | COVID-19 survival on surfaces* ( 23 ) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathogen | Survival time | Surface | Survival time |
| C. difficile (spores) | >5 mo | Glass | 5 d |
| Escherichia coli | 1.5 h–1.3 y | Wood | 4 d |
| Vancomycin-resistant or -susceptible enterococci | 5 d–4 mo | Plastic and stainless steel | 3 d |
| S. aureus | 7 d–7 mo | Cardboard | 24 h |
| Streptococcus pneumoniae | 1–20 d | Copper | 4 h |
| Hepatitis B | 2 h–60 d | ||
| Adenovirus | 7 d–3 mo | ||
| Influenza virus | 1–2 d | ||
| Respiratory syncytial virus | ≤6 h | ||
| Coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome, gastrointestinal, cold) | 3–28 d |
*Amount of live virus decreases over time on surfaces; risk of infection from touching something that had virus on it for a few days (or even a few hours) would be less.