Omicron Has More Staying Power Than Other Variants But Can’t Survive Hand Sanitizer

The bad news is that a Japanese study found the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 remains viable longer on plastic and skin than other variants. The good news is that it cannot survive hand sanitizer. Omicron’s staying power may have contributed to its high level of spread, according to researchers. The study, published in bioRxiv, showed that Omicron survived more than 8 days on plastic and nearly an entire day on skin. However, all of the COVID-19 variants studied were completely immobilized by 15 seconds of exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitizer. The study has not made it through the peer-review process yet. Click here to read more.