Use Samsung's UV sterilizer as COVID19 virus lasts 28 days on phones

The latest finding is a bit alarming. Researchers from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have found that the COVID19 virus can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces like phone screens.

Samsung has been selling a UV sterilizer for the past six months

According to CSIRO's peer-reviewed study which was published in Virology Journal last week, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is able to survive for 28 days on smooth surfaces like the glass on phone screens and plastic bank notes at room temperature.

Researchers are as yet unsure about the exact role of surface transmission. The questions that remain unanswered include the degree of contact with the surface on which the virus is present and the amount of virus that's required for infection. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cautioned that it's possible to contract COVID19 by touching a surface on which the virus is present and then touching the mouth, nose or eyes.

We tend to be really careless about how we use our phones when we're out in the world. Most people would just place it on the table at a restaurant or at an empty seat beside them on the subway without giving it a thought. This latest finding is going to make a lot of people sit up and be more careful when using their phone out in the world.

Now you can't really douse your phone in hand sanitizer if you want to mitigate the risk of infection. What you can do is use an ultra-violet sterilizer. They have become quite sought after in these COVID19 times. Samsung has been selling one since early this year as well. It can sterilizer anything that can fit inside it, be it your phone, keys, sunglasses or Galaxy Buds Live.

You can buy it for $49.99 directly from Samsung's website in most countries. Samsung has had the sterilizer's ability to achieve 99 percent sanitization tested by Intertek and SGS, the world's leading inspection companies. It even has built-in wireless charging so you can clean your phone and charge it at the same time, provided it does support wireless charging.