Antimicrobial copper as an effective and practical deterrent to surface transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

The aerosols are critical for SARS-CoV-2 transmission, however in areas with high confluence of people the contaminated surfaces take an important role that we could attack using antimicrobial surfaces including copper. In this study, we wanted to challenge infectious SARS-CoV-2 with two samples of copper surfaces and one plastic surface as control at different direct times contact. To evaluate and quantify virucidal activity of copper against SARS-CoV-2, two methods of experimental infection were performed, TCID50 and plaque assays on VeroE6 cells, showing significant inactivation of high titer of SARS-CoV-2 within minutes reaching 99.9 % of inactivation of infectivity on both copper surfaces. Daily high demand surfaces contamination is an issue that we have to worry about not only during the actual pandemic time but also for future, where copper or its alloys will have a pivotal role. ImportanceQuantitative data obtained of TCID50 and plaque assay with infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus showed that after direct contact with copper or copper alloys, viruses were inactivated within minutes. Notably, the SARS-CoV-2 virus used in these assays was in high titer (106 PFU/mL) showing strong copper inactivation of the infectious SARS-CoV-2.