Newspapers do not transmit from Covid-19, readers assured

News companies have dismissed claims that touching newspapers and magazines or other print packages could transmit the Covid-19.

While the virus has been established to have the capability to remain stable and survive in aerosols and on different surfaces for a duration ranging from three hours to four days, print newspaper material is porous and consequently not favourable for the virus to persist for long.

The International News Media Association consequently specified that there has, on no occasion, been a reported case of the disease being transmitted through newspapers.

The surge in cases of the novel coronavirus globally have inadvertently raised paranoia in the public triggering fears that contact with an assortment of items and surfaces could cause transmission.

But research by the World Health Organisation, The Journal of Hospital Infection, National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases (NIH) and the John Innes Centre debunked these worries.

Francis Munywoki, Managing Director of Nation Newspapers, said while there have been fears in the public, print newspapers are innocuous.

Their nature and the processes they go through during production give them this attribute.

Print newspaper publishers have also come up with a raft of measures all aimed at curtailing the spread of the disease. These include home delivery with those doing the deliveries given strict guidelines and protective gear including gloves and masks to ensure that customers remain safe. This also applies to the single copy distributors.

“There has not been any reported instance of the disease being transmitted through newspapers. Besides we, as a publishing company, have put all measures in place to reinforce the safety of our products, in this case newspapers.”

The group’s printing plant has adopted robust fully operational systems to ensure that not just its products, but also those who handle these products are protected from contracting the disease, according to Mr Munywoki.

“Every precaution has been taken to ensure that the newspapers distributed are safe for the public, those distributing the papers also regularly sanitised and the staff doing home deliveries constantly use sanitisers,” Mr Munywoki assured.

He advised readers to not be fazed by paranoia since responsible global health institutions have made the assurance of newspapers’ safety.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus which causes the now notorious Covid-19 disease, has been detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, on copper for up to four hours, 24 hours on cardboard and lasts longest on smooth and non-porous surfaces like plastic and stainless steel – three days.

Some human coronaviruses have been established to remain infectious on nonliving surfaces at room temperature for up to nine days.

With time, they gradually lose the ability to be infectious and often dry out, while also feasibly waning in potency when exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Their strength likewise declines fast when exposed to air.

The virus has been established to lose half its strength every 66 minutes.

On newsprint, which is porous and even more sterile because of the ink and the printing process it goes through, the virus’ persistence is therefore short.

Covid-19, which supposedly emerged from a Wuhan seafood market in China, has today -- three months later --threatened recession of global economies with more than half a million infections and up to 25,000 deaths worldwide, as countries scramble to control it.

Governments have stressed on measures, including social distancing, total lockdowns, avoiding contact and unnecessary travel, as well as observing cleanliness through constant sanitising and washing hands, to counter it.