By Nicole Conner

Coronavirus can survive for a month on surfaces including banknotes, mobile phone screens and stainless steel according to new research.

Researchers at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have found that Covid can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces.

The research, undertaken at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong, Victoria, found the virus survived better at colder temperatures.

It also found that the virus survived longer on smooth surfaces such as glass and stainless steel compared to surfaces like cotton.

Recent studies have shown that the virus is able to remain infectious in airborne particles for greater than three hours.

Over the course of a month, the virus was analysed and re-isolated to determine its survivability rate.

Further experiments were carried out at 30 and 40 degrees Celsius, with survival times decreasing as the temperature increased.

The study was also carried out in the dark, to remove the effect of UV light as research has demonstrated direct sunlight can rapidly inactivate the virus.

These findings show that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19, can remain infectious for significantly longer time periods than generally considered possible.

The results could be used to improve risk mitigation procedures to prevent the spread of the disease.

Dr Debbie Eagles, Deputy Director of ACDP, has been working on testing a potential vaccine for the virus.

She said that need for 'good practices such as handwashing' was reinforced now the virus can remain infectious.

She said: 'At 20 degrees Celsius, which is about room temperature, we found that the virus was extremely robust, surviving for 28 days on smooth surfaces such as glass found on mobile phone screens and plastic banknotes.

'For context, similar experiments for Influenza A have found that it survived on surfaces for 17 days, which highlights just how resilient SARS-CoV-2 is.'

Dr Eagles added that 'establishing how long this virus remains viable on surfaces is critical for developing risk mitigation strategies in high contact areas'.

The revelation comes as several businesses have introduced cashless payment options to stem the spread of the virus.