I was putting groceries away today and started wondering if any knowledge is out there on whether the virus dies at the same rate in cold or freezing temps as it does at room temps. My inclination is that if freezing preserves your ground beef, maybe it preserves the virus too. But, I’m a forklift driver, not a virologist.
From the New Jersey COVID-19 info hub:
https://covid19.nj.gov/faqs/coronavirus-information/about-novel-coronavirus-2019/will-the-coronavirus-survive-in-the-refrigerator-or-freezer
*A 2010 study used two viruses that are related to the COVID-19 virus to look at the effects of temperature and humidity on viral survival. Researchers found that both lower temperatures and lower humidity helped viruses survive longer. In particular, at 4 degrees C, or 40 degrees F, and 20% relative humidity, more than two thirds of the viruses survived for 28 days. On the other end of the spectrum, at 40 degrees C, or 104 degrees F, and 80% humidity, the viruses survived for less than 6 hours.
This suggests that coronaviruses survive better on surfaces at colder temperatures. It is alsoexpected that the virus would survive being frozen.*
So, disinfect the packaging of your perishables well before refrigerating/freezing, I’d say.
CDC’s recommended method of storing coronavirus samples is: “Refrigerate specimen at 2-8°C up to 72 hours; if exceeding 72 hours, freeze at -70°C and ship on dry ice.”
It doesn’t exactly say the frozen/thawed samples are infectious, but since these are virus samples for research, I’d assume so.
Thanks for the info! Good to know. I probably won’t drag everything out of the freezer and refrigerator and disinfect now but will be conscious of this when removing items to use and when I get things cleared out some, I may disinfect the refrigerator and clean stuff before storage in the future.