Citriodiol,

A virus-killing chemical found in insect repellent can also destroy the infection that causes Covid-19, scientists have
claimed.

It suggests citriodiol has promise against SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes Covid-19, having previously shown to
work on other similar coronaviruses.

However, experts warned it is still early days, and the chemical has not been shown to prevent people from catching the
coronavirus.  

Citriodiol comes from the leaves of the eucalyptus citriodora tree, native to Asia, South America and
Africa.
Previous studies have found the chemical is also able to kill the SARS virus, which caused a
pandemic almost 20 years ago. 
It remains unknown if the chemical is able to destroy SARS-CoV-2, the virus which leads to COVID-
19, but the two viruses are closely related. 
Deet, another common chemical used to keep bugs away, is not believed to be effective against
coronavirus. 
Two experiments took place, to assess if the chemical kills the virus when applied to it directly as a liquid, as well as on
latex 'synthetic skin'. 

It took longer for the virus to die out on the fake skin than on surfaces, taking four hours for levels to drop enough to be
noticed.  

Even though SARS-CoV-2 was slowly killed off, it was still detectable from all surfaces tested in the fake skin
experiments.

Preliminary tests have shown that low concentrations of citriodiol can be effective in killing SARS CoV-1, a coronavirus
closely related to the one causing the pandemic.

Citriodiol comes from the oil of the Eucalyptus citriodora tree, making it a naturally sourced ingredient.

It has already passed rigorous safety and efficacy tests, making it an attractive avenue for Covid-19 protection.

However, there is currently no proven vaccine, chemical or drug that prevents Covid-19, although work is ongoing.

The advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on avoiding infection is still to clean your hands frequently and
thoroughly, keep at least one metre distance from others and catch sneezes and coughs in a tissue or your elbow.