A recent study by researchers of Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan revealed that the Omicron variant of coronavirus can remain alive on skin for over 21 hours, and more than eights days on plastic surfaces. The study said this may be one of the reasons to its faster spread compared to other strains. The study said that the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants exhibited more than two-fold longer survival on plastic and skin surfaces, than the Wuhan strain.<br />”&nbsp; <br />”The authors of study said the high environmental stability of these strains could increase the risk of contact transmission and contribute to their spread. This study showed that Omicron has the highest environmental stability among the variants which might be one of the factors that have allowed the variant to replace the Delta variant and spread rapidly.<br />”<span style="color: #222222;">&nbsp; <br />”The study said , although Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants showed a slight increase in ethanol resistance in response to increased environmental stability, all variants on the skin surface were completely inactivated by 15 second exposure to 35 per cent ethanol. Therefore, the researchers&nbsp; recommended that current infection control (hand hygiene) practice should use disinfectants as proposed by the World Health Organization<b>.</b></span><br />