Assessment of Antiviral Coatings for High-Touch Surfaces by Using Human Coronaviruses HCoV-229E and SARS-CoV-2
Sophie Butot, Leen Baert, Sophie Zuber
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, is transmitted mainly person-to-person through respiratory droplets, while the contribution of fomite transmission is less important than suspected at the beginning of the pandemic. Nevertheless, antiviral-coating solutions can offer an additional measure to mitigate the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from high-touch surfaces. The deployment of antiviral coatings is not new, but what is currently lacking is solid scientific evidence of the efficacy of commercially available self-disinfecting surfaces under real-life conditions. Therefore, we developed a novel, robust approach to evaluate the antiviral activity of such coatings, applying strict quality criteria to three commercially available products to test their efficacies against SARS-CoV-2. We also showed that HCoV-229E is a relevant surrogate for such experiments. Our approach will also bring significant benefit to the evaluation of the effects of coatings on the survival of nonenveloped viruses, which are known to be more tolerant to desiccation and disinfectants and for which high-touch surfaces play an important role.