A latest study says that the dangerous coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours. Japanese researchers have found, in a discovery and they explained the need for frequent washing of hands as it would help combat COVID-19 pandemic.

The study published this month in the Clinical Infectious Disease Journal said that, "The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes COVID-19) on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic." The study further revealed that, "The longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 on the skin increases contact-transmission risk; however, hand hygiene can reduce this risk."

The dangerous coronavirus and the flu virus are inactivated within 15 seconds by applying ethanol, which is used in hand sanitisers. The study supports the guidelines for routine and comprehensive hand washing by the World Health Organization to reduce the spread of the virus, which has infected nearly 40 million people worldwide since it first appeared in China late last year.

India's coronavirus caseload increased to 74,94,551 with 61,871 fresh infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries rose to 65,97,209 pushing the recovery rate to 88.03 per cent. The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 1,14,031 with the virus claiming 1,033 lives in a span of 24 hours. The number of active cases of coronavirus infection remained below 8 lakh for the second consecutive day. There are 7,83,311 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country, comprising 10.45 per cent of the total caseload.