(CNN) The coronavirus driving the current pandemic can live on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for up to three days, researchers say in a study published as a letter to the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine. And it can linger in aerosols -- the suspension of tiny particles or droplets in the air -- for three hours, the study says. The results add to researchers' understanding of how long the new coronavirus can linger on surfaces and the air, though scientists have said more research is needed. The study indicates that transmission of the new coronavirus is possible by aerosol and material, "since the virus can remain viable and infectious in aerosols for hours and on surfaces up to days," the researchers wrote. Researchers still are investigating, have been found to persist on inanimate surfaces -- including metal, glass or plastic surfaces -- for as long as nine days if that surface had not been disinfected.

Source: CNN March 18, 2020 20:26 UTC