**5. Conclusion**

SARS-CoV-2 may be transmitted through inhalation of virus present in the air farther than six feet away from the source of infection. Apart from airborne transmission, fecal shedding of the virus has been also been reported from some patients. However, the environmental viability of the virus from fecal shedding has been demonstrated at low levels. Moreover, several studies have demonstrated that the environmental survivability of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, surface water, sludge, and other biosolid waste material, is very low with temperatures greater than 20°C. Several reports have also demonstrated that the inactivation rate of coronavirus in waste water is higher than other enteric viruses. On inanimate

*Environmental Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and Disinfection of Work Surfaces in View… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104520*

surfaces, SARS-CoV-2 may remain infectious from a few hours to up to a few days. Like most enveloped viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is susceptible to a variety of surface disinfection agents, including ethanol, quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC), sodium hypochlorite, chlorine compounds, etc. Moreover, nanomaterial-based disinfectants have also been investigated for ability to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. Proper public awareness and adequate compliance with recommendations from the public health agencies on appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), adequate application of disinfectants in healthcare settings and public places and the home may reduce the number of infectious SARS-CoV-2 virions on environmental surfaces, which may mitigate the transmission of the virus and the risk of acquiring COVID-19. Moreover, national and international guidelines for infection prevention and control of COVID-19 should be followed strictly and such guidelines should be updated in a timely manner based on new information from the scientific literature.
