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2020 COVID-19 Coronavirus Ultraviolet Susceptibility

Technical Report · March 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.22803.22566

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Wladyslaw J. Kowalski Thomas J Walsh

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2020 COVID-19 Coronavirus Ultraviolet Susceptibility

Memo from the Authors

The current global Coronavirus pandemic is of urgent concern with its high transmission rate and rapid
spread throughout the world. The current reported death rate is 2-3% and there currently is no antiviral
drugs or vaccine available to the public. Structurally, this virus is not unique and is similar to other
coronaviruses such as Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome
(MERS), and can be addressed with existing disinfection methods such as chemicals and new
technologies such as Focused Multivector Ultraviolet (FMUV) from PurpleSun.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long does COVID-19 Live on Surfaces?

6 hours - 9 days on surfaces
2. What is the difference between a virus and bacteria?
Bacteria are self-contained, have cell walls, and can survive and replicate on their own.
Viruses are DNA molecules that may be naked or encapsulated and require a host to replicate.
They cannot be treated with antibiotics and require a vaccine
3. What is the biggest issue with this COVID-19 virus?
High secondary infection rate, Rapid spread (more rapid than SARS or MERS), Fatality rate (2-
3%)
4. Is ultraviolet light effective against COVID-19?
Ultraviolet light destroys DNA of viruses, bacteria, and fung
5. What is the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare staff?
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/COVID-19-PPE.pdf

General Explanation of the Disease

COVID-19 is the respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has caused outbreaks
worldwide. The SARS-CoV-2 is a new variant in the betacoronavirus family (Fisher 2020). It transmits by
direct contact or contact with fomites and can be suspended in air as well, as are the related
betacoronaviruses SARS, MERS, and the four known Human coronaviruses – OC43, 229E, NL63, and
HKU1. The majority of infection transmissions are believed to be by droplet spray from coughing and
sneezing and by direct contact or contact with fomites.

Confirmation That Ultraviolet is Effective

Ultraviolet light can be an effective measure for decontaminating surfaces that may be contaminated by
the SARS-CoV-2 virus by inducing photodimers in the genomes of microorganisms. Ultraviolet light has
been demonstrated to be capable of destroying viruses, bacteria and fungi in hundreds of laboratory
studies (Kowalski 2009). The SARS-CoV-2 virus has not yet been specifically tested for its ultraviolet
susceptibility but many other tests on related coronaviruses, including the SARS coronavirus, have
concluded that they are highly susceptible to ultraviolet inactivation. This report reviews these studies and
provides an estimate of the ultraviolet susceptibility.

It is estimated that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can survive on surfaces for up to 9 days, based on its similarity
to SARS and MERS. Standard disinfectants are effective against SARS-CoV-2 but as an extra level of

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protection, and to shield against errors in the manual disinfection process, ultraviolet light can be used to
disinfect surfaces and equipment after the manual chemical disinfection process is completed. ASHRAE
recommends ultraviolet germicidal irradiation as one strategy to address COVID-19 disease transmission
(ASHRAE 2020).

COVID-19 is highly contagious and so any residual contamination, no matter how small, can pose a threat
to healthcare workers and patients. The PurpleSun E300 Focused Multivector Ultraviolet (FMUV) system
with Shadowless DeliveryTM (see Figure 1) is an automated system that has proven to reduce surface
contamination by 96% and can address contamination left behind by current manual chemical cleaning
which was shown to only reduce contamination by 36% (Armellino 2020).

The PurpleSun E300 system has demonstrated elimination of 99%-99.99% of bacteria and fungi as listed
in Table 2 in laboratory tests within 90 seconds (Petraitis 2017). Similar reductions could be expected
against the COVID-19 coronavirus in 90 seconds as well.

Scientific Rationale
Coronaviruses are members of the Coronaviridae group and contain a single-stranded, positive-sense
RNA genome surrounded by a corona-like helical envelope (Ryan 1994). Approximately 100 sequences
of the SARS-CoV-2 genome have been published and these suggest there are two types, Type I and
Type II, of which the latter came from the Huanan market in China while the Type I strain came from an
unknown location (Zhang 2020). The genome consists of 29,751 base pairs (NC_045512.2) and the
genome is about 80% homologous with SARS viruses (NCBI 2020, Fisher 2020). Coronaviruses have a
size range of 60-140nm, with a mean size of 0.10 microns (Zhu 2020).

Table 1 summarizes the results of studies that have been performed on Coronaviruses under ultraviolet
light exposure, with the specific species indicated in each case. The D90 value indicates the ultraviolet
dose for 90% inactivation. Although there is a wide range of variation in the D90 values, this is typical of
laboratory studies on ultraviolet susceptibility. The range of D90 values for coronaviruses is 7-241 J/m2
the mean of which is 67 J/m2, should adequately represent the ultraviolet susceptibility of the SARS-CoV-
2 (COVID-19) virus.

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Figure 1: The PurpleSun E300 FMUV system in PACT configuration for transport or storage
(Left), CUBE configuration for surrounding smaller equipment (Center), and RECTAN mode for
surrounding larger equipment (Right).

Updated on March 12, 2020 by:

Dr. Wladyslaw J. Kowalski, PhD, Chief Scientist and World UV Expert, PurpleSun Inc
Research@purplesun.com
Dr. Thomas J. Walsh, MD, PhD, Infectious Diseases Translational Research Laboratory, Weill Cornell
Medicine of Cornell University, New York City, NY
Dr. Vidmantas Petraitis, MD, Infectious Diseases Translational Research Laboratory, Weill Cornell
Medicine of Cornell University, New York City, NY

2015: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284691618_SARS_Coronavirus_UV_Susceptibility

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 REFERENCES

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Infect Contr (Accepted).
3. ASHRAE. (2020). ASHRAE Resources Available to Address COVID-19 Concerns. (American Society of
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