COVID-19 first hit the news more than three years ago.

But since those first reports, we’ve learned so much about the virus.

Science now tells us it can survive up to 72 hours on plastic and stainless-steel surfaces and can live 24 hours on cardboard.

The findings suggest that you don’t have to come into contact with a person who has it, but by simply touching contaminated surfaces, you can come down with COVID.

That’s why researchers are now developing new ways to kill COVID before it comes into contact with people.

We spent months spraying and cleaning every single surface and handle we could find.

“COVID created a lot of problems for humanity, but it also created a lot of opportunities,” Sudipta Seal, PhD biomedical & material scientist at the University of Central Florida.

A team of UCF researchers stepped up to the challenge and created a nano-based disinfectant that can kill several viruses, including COVID-19.

“When you shrink a material down to nano dimensions, they have unique physical chemical properties. The nano material itself has this antiviral property,” said Craig Neal, PhD material scientist at the University of Central Florida.

The particles are so small, it would take a hundred thousand of them to be as thick as a single strand of human hair. They’re combined with silicon dioxide to make this synthesized silk patch made in the laboratory.

The nano-coating uses regular everyday white light to generate UV light and destroy the virus. Originally designed for protective equipment like gloves, facemasks, and visors, now, these researchers believe this coating would work just about everywhere.

“I would see coatings, door handles, countertops, hospitals, and so on,” Dr. Seal stated.

And hopefully kill the virus before it has the chance to kill anyone else.