Yes.
A new study published in Contact Lens & Anterior Eye has shown that human coronaviruses can easily be removed from contact lens (CL) surfaces, although the type of solution and care regimen matters.
What are the details?
The paper investigated the binding rates of two human coronaviruses (HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43) to eight soft CL materials and four rigid gas permeable materials.
The efficacy of four solutions (Biotrue, Opti-Free PureMoist, Clear Care, and Cleadew Advanced Care System) to remove virus contamination from two representative soft lens materials (etafilcon A and lotrafilcon B) was also determined.
What did they find?
The oxidative disinfection systems (Clear Care and Cleadew) reduced the number of infectious viral particles that adhered to the test lenses to below the limit of quantification.
However, the nonoxidative disinfection systems (Biotrue and Opti-Free PureMoist) reduced the number of infectious viral particles only when additional rub and rinse steps were included.
The take home.
Human coronavirus contamination can be easily removed from CL surfaces. Although CL care products containing hydrogen peroxide and povidone-iodine (ie, Cleadew) efficiently removed virus contamination from CL surfaces without the need for a rub and rinse step, a full regimen including this step is crucial when using CL care products based on nonoxidative systems. (via)