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GRIM TRUTH

Deadly coronavirus ‘can survive at boiling point’ – raising doubts 60C washes will kill bug

CORONAVIRUS can survive temperatures almost up to the boiling point of water, a study has warned.

Researchers in France have made a startling discovery pointing out just how hard it might be to kill SARS-CoV-2.

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 The virus can survive temperatures of up almost 100 degrees
The virus can survive temperatures of up almost 100 degreesCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Professor Remi Charrel at the Aix-Marseille University in southern France led a team, which found the virus can withstand incredibly high temperatures.

The researchers used cells from a viral strain from a coronavirus patient in Berlin, and tested the environments in which it could survive.

After slowly heating the cells for an hour at around 60C - the virus was still able to replicate and bring on another round of the infection.

Tests showed the bug was killed at that temperature in a totally sterile environment.

But, in any dirty environments the virus could still thrive.

The team then put the virus under further pressure, increasing the temperature to almost 100C - the boiling point of water.

It was only at this point they could say for sure, that the bug was killed.

'Worrying finding'

The discovery is particularly worrying for researchers processing tests for coronavirus.

In order to safely test swabs and blood samples for antibodies, researchers have to achieve "complete viral inactivation" - where it can no longer infect other people.

But to do that, swabs are normally heated for one hour at 60C.

For the virus to be completely inactivated it would have to be heated at 92C, but that would invalidate many antibody tests, as the higher temperatures increases the chances of coming back with a "false negative".

The authors  of the study wrote: "The results presented in this study should help to choose the best suited protocol for inactivation in order to prevent exposure of laboratory personnel in charge of direct and indirect detection of Sars-CoV-2 for diagnostic purpose."

Clean freak

Brits desperate to keep themselves and their homes free from coronavirus should be wary of washing their clothes on low temperatures because of the new study.

This is especially important if there's someone in the household with symptoms.

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Laundryheap CEO Deyan Dimitrov has said it was best to wash laundry in "extreme heat and freezing temperatures". 

He said: "Extreme heat and freezing temperatures can stop bacteria from multiplying, so if you’re doing laundry, take the extra steps and throw your washed items into the tumble drier for 20 minutes for some added heat and germ killing action.

Antibody testing could be one of the key tools to helping Britain ease lockdown measures, as it would give the health officials information on who is immune to coronavirus.

But none of the tens of millions of tests ordered by the Government have been accurate enough to rely on - and the results of this new study might make it even harder to safely get correct results.



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