- The latest coronavirus update out of Russia sounds promising — researchers have apparently found that the COVID-19 virus has a major weakness.
- Ordinary, room temperature water apparently kills a large amount of the virus, depending on temperature. Boiling water does an even better job, this study found.
- This comes ahead of a public vaccination campaign set to begin in Russia.
Scientists from Russia’s VECTOR State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology have shared a coronavirus update that purports to include a shockingly easy way to kill particles associated with the COVID-19 virus. Are you ready for this? These scientists say the coronavirus has a newly identified weakness, and it’s … water. Just ordinary, room-temperature water, though boiling water works even better.
Ahead of a public vaccination campaign set to begin in Russia at the best of the Kremlin, this latest news comes as scientists around the world have been racing to ID successful treatments for people infected with the virus, to say nothing of the ongoing trials related to the hunt for an effective vaccine. This water-related discovery was disseminated in a recent Sputnik News report, which pointed to the completion of the study in Russia that found room-temperature water can apparently kill 90% of the coronavirus particles in 24 hours. After 72 hours, some 99.9% of the virus’ particles were found to die.
This study also claims that boiling water kills COVID-19 particles “immediately and completely,” according to the Sputnik News agency. “Virologists at VECTOR have been at the forefront of research into the novel coronavirus research since the beginning of the pandemic, working to develop accurate test kits to check for the virus and antibodies, and narrowing down over a dozen vaccine candidates by late March,” the agency reported in recent days, along with findings related to water’s effect on the virus.
These scientists’ findings were recently presented by Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s “consumer protection and human wellbeing watchdog.” Among the additional findings, the researchers discovered that elements of the virus can remain viable for a time in dechlorinated water as well as seawater, with the degree of viability depending on temperature. According to the report, chlorinated water is believed to be “highly effective” at killing the coronavirus.
In related news, as we noted in a previous report, a Russian sovereign wealth fund spokesman has said the country has already completed the early phases of coronavirus vaccine trials and that a large-scale Phase 3 trial will start this month. The first phases of vaccine trials usually include fewer volunteers, as researchers test both the effectiveness and safety of the drug — but researchers also tend to share their findings with the global community, especially considering that we’re dealing with a pandemic.