MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. The coronavirus remains viable on human hands for about 10 minutes, because human skin microbiome destroys the virus, says Mikhail Lebedev, an expert at the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing’s Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Center for Molecular Diagnostics.

"As for the possible lifespan of the virus on surfaces, when it gets on hands - not gloves, but hands themselves - the virus basically gets destroyed in about ten minutes, because human skin microbiome destroys it," he said, adding that the virus survives for much longer on the gloves, and therefore gloves must be disinfected much more often than hands.

Since May 12, Moscow, its suburbs and other regions of Russia have introduced a mask-wearing policy on public transport, in stores and businesses. Wearing masks and gloves is obligatory to ride any public transport.