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Any disinfectant can kill novel coronavirus — Russian chief sanitary doctor

According to the latest statistics, over 17.8 million people have been infected worldwide
The сhief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog, Anna Popova Alexander Astafyev/POOL/TASS
The сhief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog, Anna Popova
© Alexander Astafyev/POOL/TASS

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Any type of disinfectant is potentially harmful for the novel coronavirus, сhief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog Anna Popova told Russia’s Channel One on Sunday.

"Any disinfectant in proper concentration is lethal for the virus. Therefore, it does not matter what substance we use to decontaminate surfaces, as long as we use disinfectants," she said, adding that the coronavirus can last on surfaces for up to 48 hours.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 17.8 million people have been infected worldwide and more than 685,000 deaths have been reported.

To date, 850,870 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 650,173 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 14,128 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.