An examination of two recently quarantined cruise ships found traces of coronavirus on cabin surfaces up to 17 days after passengers were evacuated, according to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
CDC researchers looked into how "transmission occurred across multiple voyages of several ships" and found the duration of the virus' survival was far longer than previous research had shown, according to a report by CNBC.
The CDC looked into both Japanese and U.S. government efforts to contain outbreaks aboard the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined in Japan on Feb. 4, and the Grand Princess, which was quarantined off California on March 6.
Both vessels, owned by Carnival Cruises, have since been evacuated and travelers processed through quarantine at military bases around the country, including Georgia.
Previous research by the National Institutes of Health and several other health authorities observed that COVID-19 could survive up to three days on plastic and stainless steel, but that the amount of the virus on those surfaces would decrease over time.
COVID-19 “was identified on a variety of surfaces in cabins of both symptomatic and asymptomatic infected passengers up to 17 days after cabins were vacated on the Diamond Princess but before disinfection procedures had been conducted,” researchers wrote, according to CNBC.
The CDC could not say whether the virus spread by surface.
Passengers and crew on both ships were ordered quarantined after earlier guests tested positive after disembarking. Nine died after leaving the Diamond Princess, and one died from the Grand Princess.
The CDC has warned vulnerable populations to avoid cruises in the midst of the global outbreak.
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