NATIONWIDE – Since the beginning of the pandemic, scientists have been looking for more details about how the COVID-19 virus lives and spreads, and a new study out this month sought to discover how long the virus lives on human skin.

The report compared the life of the virus on skin compared to the flu virus, specifically influenza A.

While the flu only lasted anywhere from 1.65 to 2 hours, COVID-19 lived on skin between 7.96 and 10.2 hours.

Researchers with the study say that amount of time was “significant” and may increase the risk of contact transmission compared to the flu.

Additionally, they tried cleaning both viruses on the skin with ethanol and found the virus died within 15 seconds.

“Proper hand hygiene is important to prevent the spread of [COVID-19] infections,” read the conclusion of the report.

National and global health leaders have long stressed the importance of proper handwashing in the prevention of infectious diseases.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the CDC emphasized the need to wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds in order to kill any germs.

Other reports have provided details about how long the virus lives on surfaces like plastic, stainless steel, cardboard and copper.

Additional research though has shown the importance of air ventilation as virus prevention because of the growing evidence that the virus can be transmitted through the air, but global leaders still stress the need for proper handwashing.