Experts urge Brits to clean phone screens twice a day as coronavirus can live on it for a week

4 March 2020, 09:10

By Mared Parry

@maredparry

The deadly virus is affecting dozens across the UK and it's important to take the right steps to prevent further spreading.

Cleaning our phone screens twice a day should be a necessary move for all Brits in order to prevent spreading of the coronavirus, experts warn.

They should use alcohol wipes, to help kill viruses and bacteria from the surface, as flat ones allow viruses such as COVID-19 to live there for up to a week if they're not properly disinfected.

Professor William Keevil, from the University of Southampton, told the Telegraph: “You could be washing your hands, but if you start touching your smartphone screen and then touch your face that is a potential route of infection.”

Phone screens can contribute a significant factor to spreading the deadly virus, more than you'd initially suspect, and they've even been described as "portable Petri dishes".

People have been advised to clean their queen after lunch and again at dinner time, and considering the average person picks up their phone 2,600 times a day, we'd say cleaning your phone twice is a reasonable amount.

Research conducted by Discount also found that although we pick up our phones are 2,600 times we use it around 76 times.

Professor Mark Fielder, a microbiologist at Kingston University, also added: “I would suggest at the moment wiping your phone over with an alcohol wipe, and perhaps don’t share your phone around."

The warning comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson states that the coronavirus will get worse and that "all our lives will change" as a result.

His plan for battling the virus now puts the UK on red alert for a number of tight restrictions in the event of mass infection.

A four-part plan is put in place which will urge Brits to work from home as much as they can and avoid unnecessary journeys.