Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has devastated global
public health systems and economies, with over 23 million people infected, millions of jobs and
businesses lost, and more than 800 000 deaths recorded to date. Contact with surfaces contaminated
with droplets generated by infected persons through exhaling, talking, coughing and sneezing is a major driver of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, with the virus being able to survive on surfaces for extended periods of time. To interrupt these chains of transmission, there is an urgent need for devices that can be deployed to inactivate the virus on both recently and existing contaminated surfaces. Here, we describe the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 in both wet and dry format using radiation generated by a commercially available Signify ultraviolet (UV)-C light source at 254 nm. We show that for contaminated surfaces, only seconds of exposure is required for complete inactivation, allowing for easy implementation in decontamination workows.